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

Arcaya, 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 Arcaya surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arcaya in America

Arcaya is the 133863rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arcaya surname appeared 126 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 Arcaya.

The history of the last name Arcaya

The surname Arcaya has its origins in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France, dating back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Basque word "arkatza," which means "charcoal" or "coal." This suggests that the name may have originally been an occupational surname for someone who worked with coal or charcoal.

Arcaya is a variant spelling of the more common Basque surname Arcaya, which can be traced back to the 12th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in a 1215 document from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain, where a certain "Ioannes Arcaya" is mentioned.

In the 14th century, there are references to an "Iohannes de Arcaya" from the village of Arcaya in the Basque province of Álava, Spain. It is likely that the surname originated from this village, which may have been named after an individual with the occupational name Arcaya.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Arcaya surname began to spread throughout Spain and its colonies in the Americas as a result of the Spanish colonization efforts. One notable figure from this time period was Pedro de Arcaya, a Spanish conquistador born in Bilbao in 1520, who participated in the conquest of Peru under Francisco Pizarro.

Another historical figure with the Arcaya surname was Juan de Arcaya y Solórzano, a Spanish nobleman and military officer born in Seville in 1625. He served as the Governor of the Province of Caracas (modern-day Venezuela) from 1678 to 1682.

In the 19th century, a prominent individual with the Arcaya surname was Manuel Arcaya Urdaneta, a Venezuelan military leader and politician who played a key role in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spain. He was born in Caracas in 1787 and died in 1845.

Despite its Basque origins, the Arcaya surname has also been found in other parts of Spain and Latin America, likely due to migration and intermarriage over the centuries. While not as widespread as some more common Spanish surnames, Arcaya remains a notable name with a rich historical background rooted in the Basque region of Spain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arcaya

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

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 Arcaya 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.

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

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

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