2000
#142,819
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Arangua
A Spanish surname derived from a place name meaning "marshy area".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 135 Americans carry the last name Arangua. That puts it at #143,511 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,538,921 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Arangua surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
135
1 in 2,538,921
Census rank
#143,511
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
118
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 118 bearers of the surname Arangua in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143511th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Arangua, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 89.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Arangua
The surname Arangua originates from the Basque region, situated in the western Pyrenees that spans the modern-day territories of northern Spain and southern France. Its origins can be traced back to the early medieval period, around the 9th or 10th century.
Arangua is believed to be derived from the Basque words "aran" meaning valley, and "goi" or "goia" meaning high or elevated. This linguistic combination suggests that the name likely referred to individuals or families residing in high or elevated valleys within the Basque region.
Early references to variations of the name can be found in historical documents from the region, such as the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a 10th-century collection of charters and documents from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Juan Arangua, a prominent landowner and nobleman from the town of Lesaka in Navarre, Spain, who lived in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Martín de Arangua, a Basque soldier and adventurer who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expeditions to Mexico in the early 16th century.
In the 17th century, Juan de Arangua y Lezama (1588-1662) was a Basque-Spanish jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge in the Royal Chancery of Valladolid, one of the highest courts in Spain at the time.
The name Arangua has also been associated with various place names in the Basque Country, such as the town of Aranguren in Navarre, which likely shares a similar etymological root.
Other notable bearers of the surname include Ignacio Arangua (1691-1754), a Spanish Jesuit missionary who worked in the Philippines, and José María Arangua (1831-1896), a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Spanish Senate.
While the surname Arangua is relatively uncommon outside of the Basque region, it has been carried by individuals of Basque descent and has maintained a presence throughout Spain and parts of France over the centuries, reflecting the rich cultural and historical heritage of the Basque people.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arangua
Among Census respondents with the surname Arangua, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 89.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Arangua bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Arangua surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.0% · 105
- White8.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Arangua
Arangua appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#138,304
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
+14 bearers (+13.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 4,515 places
2020
#143,511
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
-3 bearers (-2.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 5,207 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #142,819 | 107 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #138,304 | 121 | 0.04 | +14 bearers (+13.1%) | Up 4,515 places |
| 2020 | #143,511 | 118 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.5%) | Down 5,207 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Arangua surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #138,304 | #143,511 | -3.8% |
| Count | 121 | 118 | -2.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -1.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Arangua bearers went from 121 to 118 (-2.5% change). The surname moved down 5,207 positions in the national ranking, going from #138,304 to #143,511.
FAQ
Arangua surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Arangua?
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the surname Arangua. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,538,921 residents.
How common is Arangua?
Arangua ranks #143,511 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 118 people with the surname Arangua. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (135), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Arangua.
Has Arangua become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Arangua went from 121 recorded bearers to 118. That is a decrease of 3 (-2.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #138,304 to #143,511.
What does the Census say about the background of Arangua?
Among Census respondents with the surname Arangua, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 89.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Arangua in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.0% (105 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Arangua appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (89.0%), White (8.5%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Arangua (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Arangua mean?
A Spanish surname derived from a place name meaning "marshy area". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Arangua (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Arangua?
See how many people are called Arangua on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.