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

Arsenault, 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 Arsenault surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arsenault in America

Arsenault is the 4052nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arsenault surname appeared 8,760 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Arsenault.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arsenault 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 Arsenault

The surname Arsenault originated in France, specifically in the region of Brittany. It is derived from the Old French words "ars" meaning "burned" and "nault" meaning "clearing." The name likely referred to someone who lived near a burned clearing or worked as a charcoal burner.

The earliest recorded instances of the Arsenault surname date back to the late 16th century in the Brittany region of France. Some variations in spelling include Arseneau, Arseneault, and Arseneau. The name is also found in archival records from the 17th and 18th centuries in the region.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jean Arsenault, who was born around 1625 in Brittany. He later migrated to Acadia (present-day Maritime provinces of Canada) in the mid-1600s, where the name became more widespread among French settlers.

Another notable figure was Olivier Arsenault, born in 1662 in Port-Royal, Acadia (now Nova Scotia, Canada). He was one of the first Acadians to use the Arsenault surname and had several children, contributing to the name's proliferation in the region.

In the 18th century, during the Acadian Expulsion, many Arsenault families were displaced from their homes in Acadia and relocated to various parts of North America, including Louisiana, where the name remains prominent today.

One of the most famous individuals with the Arsenault surname was Gabriel Arsenault (1879-1966), a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons and as a Senator.

Another notable figure was Aurèle Arsenault (1870-1956), a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and educator who founded several schools and colleges in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

In literature, the Arsenault name appears in works such as "Évangéline" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which depicts the story of the Acadian Expulsion and features characters with the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arsenault

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!