Almeida last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Almeida

A Portuguese toponymic surname indicating an origin in one of several places named Almeida, meaning "elevated" or "high viewpoint."

Almeida, 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 Almeida surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Almeida in America

Almeida is the 2166th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Almeida surname appeared 16,760 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 Almeida.

We can also compare 2010 data for Almeida 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 2166 2452 -12.39%
Count 16,760 13,523 21.38%
Proportion per 100k 5.68 5.01 12.54%

The history of the last name Almeida

The surname Almeida is of Portuguese origin, derived from the Portuguese place name Almeida. This place name comes from the Arabic words "al-ma'idah," meaning "the table." The town of Almeida is located in the district of Guarda in northeastern Portugal, near the Spanish border.

The surname Almeida can be traced back to the 12th century, when it was first recorded in Portugal. It is believed to have originated from a prominent family that lived in the town of Almeida during this time period. The name was likely adopted as a surname to identify members of this family and their descendants.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the surname Almeida appears in the "Livro Velho de Linhagens" (Old Book of Lineages), a Portuguese genealogical record from the 13th century. This manuscript mentions several individuals with the surname Almeida who were members of the Portuguese nobility.

Throughout history, the surname Almeida has been associated with notable figures from various fields. For example, Fernão Lopes de Almeida (c. 1459-1505) was a Portuguese explorer who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India in 1498. Another prominent figure was Francisco de Almeida (c. 1450-1510), a Portuguese nobleman who served as the first Viceroy of Portuguese India from 1505 to 1509.

The surname Almeida was also carried by influential individuals in the arts and literature. One such figure was Theodoro de Almeida (1722-1804), a Brazilian poet and satirist known for his works criticizing the society and customs of his time. Another notable bearer of the surname was José Martiniano de Almeida (1831-1891), a Brazilian writer and journalist who was a prominent figure in the Romantic literary movement in Brazil.

In the realm of politics, Joaquim Maria Machado de Almeida (1873-1942) was a prominent figure in the early 20th century. He served as the President of Portugal from 1925 to 1926 during the turbulent years of the First Portuguese Republic.

These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the surname Almeida and made significant contributions in various fields.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Almeida

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

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 Almeida was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 58.19% 9,753
Non-Hispanic Black Only 4.61% 773
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 3.03% 508
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.30% 50
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.84% 308
Hispanic Origin 32.04% 5,370

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 58.19% 58.44% -0.43%
Black 4.61% 2.35% 64.94%
Asian and Pacific Islander 3.03% 2.53% 17.99%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.30% 0.19% 44.90%
Two or More Races 1.84% 7.53% -121.45%
Hispanic 32.04% 28.96% 10.10%

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

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

Reference this page

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"Almeida last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 11, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/almeida-surname-popularity/.

"Almeida last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/almeida-surname-popularity/. Accessed 11 October, 2024

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

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