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

Bacallao, 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 Bacallao surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bacallao in America

Bacallao is the 34495th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bacallao surname appeared 656 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 Bacallao.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bacallao 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 Bacallao

The surname Bacallao is of Spanish origin, specifically from the Canary Islands. It is derived from the Spanish word "bacalao," which means "cod fish." The name likely originated in the medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century, when the Canary Islands were an important fishing hub for cod and other seafood.

Bacallao was likely an occupational surname initially, given to individuals who were involved in the cod fishing industry or traded in cod fish. It may have also been a nickname for someone who had a fondness for eating cod or resembled a cod fish in some way.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Bacallao can be found in the archives of the town of La Orotava on the island of Tenerife, where a man named Juan Bacallao was mentioned in a document from the year 1520.

Another notable early reference to the name comes from the records of the Spanish Inquisition, where a woman named Maria Bacallao was tried for heresy in the city of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria in 1567.

In the 17th century, a prominent figure with the surname Bacallao was Alonso Bacallao, a navigator and explorer who accompanied the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Mendaña on his expeditions to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.

During the 18th century, a famous painter from the Canary Islands named Juan Bacallao gained recognition for his religious works, which adorned several churches and monasteries on the islands.

In the 19th century, a renowned author and poet from the Canary Islands named Tomás Bacallao y Cabrera (1806-1885) published several collections of poetry and plays that celebrated the culture and traditions of the islands.

Another notable individual with the surname Bacallao was María Bacallao de la Cruz (1876-1948), a pioneering educator and women's rights activist from the Canary Islands who fought for equal access to education for girls and women.

While the surname Bacallao is most commonly associated with the Canary Islands, it has also spread to other Spanish-speaking regions, including Latin America and the United States, due to migration and immigration over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bacallao

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

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

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

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