Arruda last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Arruda

A Portuguese topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a place abounding in rue (a shrubby plant).

Arruda, 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 Arruda surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arruda in America

Arruda is the 7351st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arruda surname appeared 4,532 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Arruda.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arruda 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 7351 7169 2.51%
Count 4,532 4,293 5.42%
Proportion per 100k 1.54 1.59 -3.19%

The history of the last name Arruda

The surname Arruda originated in Portugal during the Middle Ages. It is a toponymic name derived from the place name "Arruda," which is a town located in the Lisbon District of Portugal. The name itself is thought to have its roots in the Portuguese word "arruda," meaning "rue," which is a type of herb.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Arruda can be found in a 13th-century manuscript from the Cistercian Monastery of Alcobaça, which mentions a certain "Martim Arruda." This suggests that the name was already established in Portugal by that time.

Arruda is also believed to have been the surname of a Portuguese nobleman who participated in the conquest of Ceuta, Morocco, in 1415. This event was a significant military victory during the Age of Discovery and marked the beginning of Portuguese exploration and expansion along the African coast.

In the 16th century, the name appears in records related to the Portuguese colonization of Brazil. For instance, Pedro de Arruda is mentioned as one of the early settlers in the captaincy of Pernambuco, which was a major center of the Portuguese presence in Brazil.

Another notable figure with this surname was Francisco de Arruda, a Portuguese military engineer and cartographer who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was responsible for designing fortifications and urban planning in several Portuguese colonies, including Mozambique and Brazil.

In the 18th century, Manuel de Arruda Câmara, a Brazilian naturalist and botanist, made significant contributions to the study of the flora and fauna of Brazil. He was born in 1752 and is remembered for his extensive research and publications on the subject.

During the 19th century, Miguel Joaquim Ribeiro de Arruda, a Brazilian politician and jurist, played a prominent role in the early years of Brazil's independence. He was born in 1793 and served as a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted Brazil's first constitution in 1823.

While the surname Arruda has its roots in Portugal, it has also spread to other parts of the world, particularly through Portuguese immigration and colonization. Today, it can be found in countries like Brazil, the United States, and other regions with significant Portuguese-speaking populations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arruda

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

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 Arruda was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 90.93% 4,121
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.51% 23
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.85% 84
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.15% 7
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 3.00% 136
Hispanic Origin 3.55% 161

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 Arruda has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 90.93% 89.56% 1.52%
Black 0.51% 0.16% 104.48%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.85% 1.61% 13.87%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.15% 0.12% 22.22%
Two or More Races 3.00% 5.92% -65.47%
Hispanic 3.55% 2.63% 29.77%

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

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

Reference this page

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"Arruda last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/arruda-surname-popularity/.

"Arruda last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/arruda-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Arruda last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/arruda-surname-popularity/.

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