Find out how popular the last name Abay is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Abay.

Abay, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Abay surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Abay in America

Abay is the 48800th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Abay surname appeared 432 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Abay.

We can also compare 2010 data for Abay to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Abay

The surname ABAY originates from the Basque region of Spain and France, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Basque word "abade," meaning "priest" or "abbot." This name was likely given to individuals who had close ties to the church or served in religious roles.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name ABAY can be found in the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th-century manuscript from the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain. This document mentions an individual named Petrus de Abay, who was a priest in the Basque region during that time.

In the 14th century, a notable figure named Juan de Abay was a prominent scholar and writer from the town of Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country. His works, which focused on theological and philosophical themes, were widely circulated and influential during the Renaissance period.

The ABAY surname also appears in historical records from the Navarre region of Spain, where it was sometimes spelled as "Abai" or "Abay." One example is the Cartas de Población de Navarra, a collection of documents from the 13th century that mentions a landowner named Sancho Abay.

During the 16th century, a famous explorer and navigator named Álvaro de Abay participated in several expeditions to the Americas. He was born in 1520 in the town of Bilbao, in the Basque Country, and is believed to have made significant contributions to the mapping of the Caribbean region.

Another notable individual with the ABAY surname was María de Abay, a Basque writer and poet who lived in the 17th century. She was known for her works exploring themes of love, nature, and the Basque cultural identity. Her poetry collection, "Poemas del Corazón," published in 1675, is considered a significant contribution to early modern Basque literature.

In the 19th century, a prominent figure named Javier Abay played a crucial role in the Basque nationalist movement. Born in 1845 in San Sebastián, he was a journalist and political activist who advocated for the recognition and preservation of Basque language and culture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Abay

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Abay.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Abay was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Abay has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Abay was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Abay, please contact us.

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