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

Abreu, 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 Abreu surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Abreu in America

Abreu is the 2008th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Abreu surname appeared 17,998 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Abreu.

We can also compare 2010 data for Abreu 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 Abreu

The surname Abreu originated in Portugal and is of patronymic origin, derived from the personal name Abrão, which was a Portuguese form of the Hebrew name Abraham. The earliest known bearers of this surname lived in the northern regions of Portugal, particularly in the provinces of Minho and Douro Litoral.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Abreu can be found in the medieval Portuguese manuscript "Livro Velho de Linhagens" (Old Book of Lineages), which dates back to the 13th century. This document mentions several individuals with the surname Abreu, suggesting that the name was already well-established in Portugal by that time.

In the 15th century, during the Age of Exploration, several individuals with the surname Abreu played significant roles in the Portuguese maritime expeditions. One notable figure was João de Abreu, a navigator and explorer who participated in the expeditions to India and the East African coast in the early 16th century.

Another prominent bearer of the name was Pedro de Abreu, a Portuguese conquistador who was involved in the conquest of Brazil in the 16th century. He is credited with founding the city of Santos in 1546, which later became an important port city in the state of São Paulo.

In the 17th century, Manuel de Abreu Sousa was a renowned Portuguese jurist and author. He wrote several legal treatises and served as a judge in the Portuguese courts during the reign of King John IV.

During the 18th century, José Antonio de Abreu was a renowned Brazilian architect and engineer. He was responsible for designing and overseeing the construction of several important buildings and infrastructure projects in the city of Rio de Janeiro, including the iconic Carioca Aqueduct.

In the 19th century, Joaquim Aurélio Barreto Nabuco de Abreu, commonly known as Joaquim Nabuco, was a prominent Brazilian diplomat, historian, and abolitionist. He played a crucial role in the movement to abolish slavery in Brazil and served as the country's ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom.

The surname Abreu has also been associated with various place names throughout Portugal and its former colonies. For example, the town of Abreu in the district of Vila Real, Portugal, and the municipality of Abreu e Lima in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, both derive their names from individuals with the surname Abreu.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Abreu

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

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

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

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