Bahena last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Bahena

A Spanish surname derived from the place name Baena, referring to someone from the town of Baena in Andalusia.

Bahena, 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 Bahena surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bahena in America

Bahena is the 3571st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bahena surname appeared 9,983 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 Bahena.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bahena 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 3571 5158 -36.36%
Count 9,983 6,240 46.14%
Proportion per 100k 3.38 2.31 37.61%

The history of the last name Bahena

The surname BAHENA has its origins in Spain and dates back to the early medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Spanish word "bahena," which means "bowl" or "basin." This name was likely given to someone who lived near a bowl-shaped depression or basin in the landscape.

In the early records, the name was often spelled as "Baena" or "Bajena," which were variations of the modern spelling. One of the earliest recorded instances of this surname can be found in the medieval Spanish document "Becerro de las Behetrías," where a person named Gonzalo Bahena is mentioned.

The BAHENA surname has been present in various regions of Spain throughout history. In the 15th century, a notable figure named Juan Bahena was a prominent landowner and farmer in the region of Andalusia. Another individual, Diego Bahena, born in 1528, was a respected scholar and theologian from the city of Seville.

During the 16th century, the BAHENA surname appeared in several historical records, including the "Catastro de Ensenada," which was a census-like document that recorded land ownership and tax information. One entry mentions a family named BAHENA residing in the town of Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid.

In the 17th century, a famous poet and playwright named Pedro Bahena de Vargas was born in Granada in 1610. His works were widely celebrated during the Spanish Golden Age of literature.

Another notable individual with this surname was Miguel Bahena, a military officer who fought in the Spanish War of Succession in the early 18th century. He was born in 1675 in the city of Córdoba and played a crucial role in several battles against the French forces.

As the Spanish Empire expanded, the BAHENA surname also found its way to the Americas. In the 19th century, there are records of a family named BAHENA settling in Mexico, where the name continues to be present today.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bahena

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

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 Bahena was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 1.73% 173
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.17% 17
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.24% 24
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.13% 13
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.07% 7
Hispanic Origin 97.66% 9,749

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 1.73% 1.70% 1.75%
Black 0.17% 0.18% -5.71%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.24% 0.14% 52.63%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.13% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 0.07% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 97.66% 97.85% -0.19%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Bahena last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/bahena-surname-popularity/.

"Bahena last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/bahena-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

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

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