Aldava last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Aldava

A Basque surname derived from the word "aldaba," meaning "door knocker" or "door handle."

Aldava, 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 Aldava surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Aldava in America

Aldava is the 49365th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Aldava surname appeared 426 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 Aldava.

We can also compare 2010 data for Aldava 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 49365 49366 0.00%
Count 426 400 6.30%
Proportion per 100k 0.14 0.15 -6.90%

The history of the last name Aldava

The surname ALDAVA is believed to have originated in the Basque region of Spain and France during the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Basque words "alde" meaning "side" or "slope" and "aba" meaning "valley" or "ravine." This suggests the name may have originally referred to someone who lived on the side of a valley or ravine.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name ALDAVA can be found in a 14th century manuscript from the town of Durango in the Basque province of Bizkaia, Spain. The document mentions a landowner named Lope ALDAVA who was involved in a property dispute. Other early spellings include ALDABA and ALDAUE.

In the 16th century, the name ALDAVA appears in records from the village of Larrabetzu, also in Bizkaia. A family with this surname owned a large farm and winery in the area during this time period. Some local place names, such as the neighborhood of Aldava in Larrabetzu, may have derived from this family's landholdings.

One notable figure with the ALDAVA surname was Juan ALDAVA, a Basque merchant and explorer who traveled to the Americas in the late 1500s. He is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to establish trade routes between Spain and the Caribbean islands.

Another individual of note was Miguel ALDAVA, a Spanish military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. He fought alongside the Duke of Wellington's forces and was present at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813.

In the 20th century, Jesús ALDAVA was a prominent Basque nationalist and politician who advocated for greater autonomy and cultural rights for the Basque people. He served as a member of the Spanish parliament during the 1930s.

Over the centuries, many individuals with the ALDAVA surname likely emigrated from the Basque Country to other parts of Spain, as well as to French Basque regions and the Americas. However, the name remains most closely associated with its origins in the mountainous Basque provinces of northern Spain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Aldava

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

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 Aldava was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 2.58% 11
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 96.01% 409

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 Aldava has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 2.58% 4.50% -54.24%
Black 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% 0.00% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% 1.50% (S)%
Hispanic 96.01% 93.50% 2.65%

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

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

Reference this page

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"Aldava last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/aldava-surname-popularity/.

"Aldava last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/aldava-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Aldava last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/aldava-surname-popularity/.

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