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

Altuna, 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 Altuna surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Altuna in America

Altuna is the 81458th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Altuna surname appeared 232 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 Altuna.

We can also compare 2010 data for Altuna 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 Altuna

The surname Altuna has its origins in the Basque Country, a region straddling the border between northern Spain and southwestern France. It likely emerged during the medieval period, around the 11th or 12th century.

Altuna is believed to be derived from the Basque words "altu" meaning "high" and "una" meaning "place" or "location." This suggests the name may have initially referred to someone who lived in a high or elevated place, such as a hilltop or mountain village.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the Altuna surname can be found in historical documents from the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia. The name appears in various spellings, including Altuna, Althuna, and Altunna, reflecting the linguistic variations and regional dialects of the Basque language.

One notable figure bearing the Altuna surname was Juan de Altuna, a Basque merchant and explorer who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He is credited with being one of the first Europeans to establish trade relations with the Canary Islands.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Pedro de Altuna, a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the Philippine Islands from 1636 to 1641. He played a significant role in the Spanish colonization of the Philippines during the 17th century.

In the field of literature, Sebastián de Altuna y Cañavera (1611-1693) was a Spanish writer and poet from the Basque Country. He is best known for his collection of religious poems titled "Poesías Religiosas."

Moving into the 19th century, Joaquín Altuna (1830-1907) was a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Congress of Deputies, representing the province of Gipuzkoa.

More recently, José Miguel de Barandiaran Ayerbe (1889-1991), a renowned Basque anthropologist and ethnographer, was born with the surname Altuna. He made significant contributions to the study of Basque culture and traditions.

While the Altuna surname is primarily associated with the Basque regions of Spain and France, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora communities. However, its origins can be traced back to the historical Basque Country and the linguistic roots of the Basque language.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Altuna

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!