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

Arseneau, 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 Arseneau surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arseneau in America

Arseneau is the 21750th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arseneau surname appeared 1,196 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 Arseneau.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arseneau 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 Arseneau

The surname ARSENEAU originates from France and is believed to have emerged in the 16th or 17th century. It is thought to have derived from the French word "arsenal," which refers to a place where arms and ammunition are stored and maintained. This suggests that the name may have originally been associated with someone who worked at an arsenal or in a related occupation.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the parish records of St. Aubin-sur-Mer, a commune in the Calvados department of Normandy, France. In these records, dated 1608, a person named Nicolas Arseneau is mentioned.

Another early reference to the name is found in the records of the French colony of Acadia, located in what is now eastern Canada. In 1671, a man named Pierre Arseneau is listed as one of the first settlers in the region.

During the Acadian Expulsion, also known as the Great Upheaval, which occurred between 1755 and 1764, many Acadians with the surname Arseneau were forcibly deported from their homes by the British authorities. Some of these families eventually resettled in various parts of North America, including Louisiana, where they became known as Cajuns.

One notable individual with the surname Arseneau was Joseph-Octave Arseneau, a Canadian politician who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 to 1917. He was born in 1854 and died in 1923.

Another prominent figure was Louis Arseneau, a French-Canadian artist and sculptor who was born in 1885 and died in 1943. He is best known for his sculptures and monuments, many of which can be found in public spaces across Quebec.

In the field of literature, Marie-Reine Arseneau was a Canadian writer and poet from New Brunswick, born in 1934. She published several collections of poetry and received numerous literary awards during her career.

The surname Arseneau has also been associated with various place names, particularly in Canada. For example, there is a community called Arsenault in Prince Edward Island, which was likely named after an early settler with that surname.

While the exact origins of the ARSENEAU surname may remain obscure, its history is intertwined with the French colonial presence in North America and the experiences of the Acadian diaspora.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arseneau

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

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

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

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