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

Balbuena, 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 Balbuena surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Balbuena in America

Balbuena is the 7223rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Balbuena surname appeared 4,621 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 Balbuena.

We can also compare 2010 data for Balbuena 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 Balbuena

The surname Balbuena has its origins in Spain, dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Spanish words "balba," meaning "stutter," and "buena," meaning "good." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a descriptive surname to someone who had a speech impediment but was considered to be of good character.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Balbuena can be found in the Catalan region of Spain, where a document from the 13th century mentions a person named Ramón de Balbuena. This indicates that the name was already in use during that time.

In the 15th century, the name Balbuena appeared in various records and manuscripts from the region of Extremadura, in western Spain. One notable individual was Bernardo de Balbuena, a Spanish poet and author who lived from 1568 to 1627. He is best known for his epic poem "El Bernardo," which celebrated the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

Another prominent figure with the surname Balbuena was Juan de Balbuena, a Spanish military officer who served in the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in the late 16th century. He played a crucial role in the establishment of Spanish rule in the archipelago and was appointed as the first Spanish governor of the Mariana Islands in 1670.

In the 17th century, the Balbuena name was associated with several place names in Spain, such as Balbuena de Duero, a municipality in the province of Valladolid, and Balbuena de Gómara, a village in the province of Soria. These place names may have been derived from the surname itself or vice versa.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname outside of Spain can be found in the records of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In 1599, a man named Diego de Balbuena was listed as a resident of the city of Puebla, in what is now Mexico.

Throughout history, the Balbuena surname has been carried by several notable individuals, including Francisco Balbuena, a Spanish painter and engraver who lived in the 17th century, and Juan Bautista Balbuena, a Mexican poet and priest from the 17th century who wrote the epic poem "La Grandeza Mexicana."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Balbuena

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

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

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

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