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

Arrechea, 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 Arrechea surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arrechea in America

Arrechea is the 116201st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arrechea surname appeared 150 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 Arrechea.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arrechea 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 Arrechea

The surname Arrechea has its origins in the Basque Country, an autonomous region located in northern Spain and southwestern France. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, possibly as early as the 11th or 12th century.

Arrechea is derived from the Basque language, and its etymology can be traced back to the words "arri" meaning stone and "etchea" meaning house or dwelling. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived in a stone house or a dwelling made of stone, a construction method common in the mountainous regions of the Basque Country.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arrechea can be found in historical documents and records from the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Biscay. These include mentions in local parish registers and municipal archives, although the precise dates are difficult to pinpoint due to the scarcity of preserved records from that era.

One notable historical figure bearing the surname Arrechea was Juan de Arrechea, a Basque soldier who fought in the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century alongside Hernán Cortés. Juan de Arrechea was born in the town of Motrico, Gipuzkoa, around the late 15th century and participated in the conquest of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire.

Another prominent individual with the surname Arrechea was Miguel de Arrechea, a Basque merchant and ship owner who lived in the 17th century. He was involved in the lucrative trade between Spain and its colonies in the Americas, particularly in the transportation of goods and commodities across the Atlantic Ocean.

In the 19th century, Sebastián de Arrechea y Larrañaga was a notable Basque politician and lawyer from Gipuzkoa. He served as a deputy in the Spanish Parliament and was actively involved in the political and legal affairs of the Basque region during the turbulent period of the Carlist Wars.

Francisco de Arrechea, born in the late 18th century, was a Basque priest and theologian who authored several religious texts and treatises. He was known for his scholarly works on Catholic doctrine and his contributions to the intellectual discourse of the time.

The surname Arrechea has also been associated with various place names in the Basque Country, such as the town of Arrechea in Gipuzkoa, which likely derived its name from the surname itself or vice versa. This further highlights the deep roots and historical significance of the name within the region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arrechea

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

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

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

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