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

Arcelay, 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 Arcelay surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arcelay in America

Arcelay is the 94730th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arcelay surname appeared 193 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 Arcelay.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arcelay 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 Arcelay

The surname ARCELAY is believed to have originated in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France. It is thought to be derived from the Basque words "artzai" meaning shepherd and "lai" meaning open field or meadow, suggesting the name likely referred to someone who worked as a shepherd in open pastures.

The earliest known record of the ARCELAY surname dates back to the 15th century in the town of Aranaz, located in the Navarre region of northern Spain. An individual named Juan ARCELAY was documented in a local census record from 1487. Around this time, variations of the spelling included ARÇELAY and ARZELAI.

In the 16th century, the name appears in historical records from the nearby town of Pamplona, where a María ARCELAY was listed as a landowner in 1523. The name is also found in documents from the village of Lecároz with the spelling ARZELLEI referring to a family residing there in 1566.

One of the earliest known bearers of the ARCELAY name was Pedro ARCELAY, a shepherd born around 1560 in the small village of Burguete in the Pyrenees mountains along the French border. Local folklore suggests he was renowned for his skill in guiding herds through the treacherous mountain passes.

By the 17th century, the surname had spread to other parts of Spain and Europe. Notable individuals include Martín ARCELAY (1612-1691), a Basque sailor who accompanied Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós on his voyages across the Pacific Ocean.

In the 1700s, the name can be found in records from the Castile region of central Spain with the spelling ARZELAI. Juan Francisco ARZELAI (1725-1803) was a respected teacher and headmaster of a school in Valladolid.

As the ARCELAY family dispersed in the 19th century, the name appeared in countries across Europe and the Americas. Some of the first immigrants included Santiago ARCELAY (1819-1899) who settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina after leaving his hometown of San Sebastián in 1845.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arcelay

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

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

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

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