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Name Lineage

    The surname Pontiff

    A nickname surname, carried by 559 people in the United States.

    2 syllables Soundex P531

    Pontiff: #39,352 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Pontiff #39,352, 559 people Pontiff: #39,352 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez Pontiff #39,352, 559 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pontiff is more common than 75.7% of them.

    Origin

    From pontiff, a nickname for someone who had played the role of the pope in a medieval religious play, or for a vain and pompous person.

    Pontiff is a nickname surname: from a description or nickname of an ancestor.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 559 people named Pontiff in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 552,318 Americans. That is down 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 570.

    #39,352
    rank among US surnames
    559
    people in 2010
    0.2
    per 100,000 Americans
    -1.9%
    change since 2000 (was #36,917)

    Who is named Pontiff

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    95% of people named Pontiff identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.0% as American Indian and Alaska Native and 1.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 95%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 2.0%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.6%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 0.9%
    The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Asian & Pacific Islander, Multiracial are not shown.

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Pontiff come from?
    From pontiff, a nickname for someone who had played the role of the pope in a medieval religious play, or for a vain and pompous person.
    How common is the surname Pontiff?
    559 people in the United States had the surname Pontiff in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 552,318 Americans. It ranked 39,352nd of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Pontiff?
    In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Pontiff identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.0% as American Indian and Alaska Native.
    What type of surname is Pontiff?
    Pontiff is a nickname surname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor.
    Is the surname Pontiff getting more or less common?
    Less common. 570 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 559 in 2010, down 1.9%.