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

Abecassis, 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 Abecassis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Abecassis in America

Abecassis is the 106570th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Abecassis surname appeared 167 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 Abecassis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Abecassis 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 Abecassis

The surname ABECASSIS is of Sephardic Jewish origin, tracing its roots back to the Iberian Peninsula, particularly Spain and Portugal, during the medieval period. It is derived from the Hebrew phrase "Abi Kassi," which translates to "the father is a Kashite" or "the father is from Cush." This reference to Cush likely alludes to the biblical land associated with ancient Ethiopia or Nubia.

The earliest recorded instances of the ABECASSIS name can be found in medieval Spanish and Portuguese documents, often in connection with Jewish communities that thrived in cities like Toledo, Seville, and Lisbon before the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1497. These records suggest that the name was initially associated with Jewish families who may have had ancestral ties to North Africa or the Middle East.

One notable historical reference to the ABECASSIS surname appears in the "Libro Verde de Aragón," a 14th-century census document from the Kingdom of Aragon. This record lists several ABECASSIS families residing in the city of Zaragoza during that period.

As Jews faced persecution and expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula, many ABECASSIS families dispersed throughout the Mediterranean region, settling in places like Morocco, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. This diaspora led to variations in the spelling and pronunciation of the name, such as Abicassis, Avicassis, and Abikhzer.

Among the notable individuals bearing the ABECASSIS surname throughout history are:

1. Abraham Abecassis (1590-1655), a prominent rabbi and Talmudic scholar who lived in Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki, Greece).
2. Isaac Abecassis (1660-1722), a renowned Jewish philosopher and kabbalist born in Fez, Morocco.
3. Jacob Abecassis (1805-1887), a Moroccan-born merchant and philanthropist who established a Jewish school in Tangier.
4. Solomon Abecassis (1892-1972), a Moroccan-born Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
5. Henri Abecassis (1912-1988), a French-Moroccan writer and journalist who authored several novels and plays.

While the ABECASSIS surname has its origins in the Iberian Peninsula, it has since become a prominent surname among Sephardic Jewish communities worldwide, reflecting the dispersal and resilience of these families throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Abecassis

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

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 Abecassis 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 Abecassis 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 Abecassis was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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