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

Ara, 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 Ara surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ara in America

Ara is the 26949th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ara surname appeared 900 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 Ara.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ara 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 Ara

The surname Ara has its origins in the Basque region of Spain and France, dating back to at least the 12th century. It is derived from the Basque word "ara," meaning a flat or smooth surface, possibly referring to a physical feature of the area where the name originated.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ara can be found in the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a medieval manuscript from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain, which mentions an individual named Sancho Ara in the year 1203.

The name Ara is also closely associated with the town of Ara in the Biscay province of the Basque Country, which likely contributed to its widespread usage in the region. The town's name itself is believed to be derived from the same Basque word, describing the flat terrain surrounding it.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in the Diccionario Histórico de las Calles de Madrid, a historical record of street names in Madrid, indicating the presence of individuals bearing the surname Ara in the city at that time.

Notable individuals with the surname Ara throughout history include Juan Ara, a 16th-century Spanish painter known for his religious works, and Gaspar Ara, a 17th-century Spanish architect responsible for the design of several churches and monasteries in Aragon.

In the 18th century, José Ara y Fuente, a Spanish military officer and engineer, was renowned for his contributions to fortification design and construction in Spain and its colonies.

The 19th century saw the birth of José Ara Repollés, a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish parliament, in the late 1800s.

One of the most notable figures with the surname Ara in modern times was Julio Ara Martínez, a Spanish philosopher and educator born in 1892, whose works focused on ethics and moral philosophy.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ara

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

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

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

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