Barreiro last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Barreiro

A Portuguese toponymic surname indicating an individual who lived near clay pits or mud flats.

Barreiro, 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 Barreiro surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Barreiro in America

Barreiro is the 14139th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Barreiro surname appeared 2,125 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Barreiro.

We can also compare 2010 data for Barreiro 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 14139 15910 -11.79%
Count 2,125 1,678 23.51%
Proportion per 100k 0.72 0.62 14.93%

The history of the last name Barreiro

The surname Barreiro has its origins in the northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in the areas that are now part of Portugal and Galicia, Spain. It is derived from the Latin word "barra," which means "bar" or "sandbank," referring to a geological formation that often accumulates at the mouths of rivers or along coastlines.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Barreiro can be traced back to the 12th and 13th centuries, when it was primarily associated with geographic locations or topographical features. One of the earliest known references is a document from the year 1194, which mentions a place called "Villa de Barreiro" in the region of Beira Litoral, Portugal.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the surname began to appear more frequently in various historical records, such as property deeds, marriage contracts, and census documents. One notable example is Pedro Barreiro, a Portuguese explorer who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his famous voyage to India in 1498.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Barreiro surname gained prominence in both Portugal and Spain. One notable figure was João Baptista Barreiro, a 16th-century Portuguese historian and author who wrote extensively about the history of his country.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, as migration and exploration increased, the Barreiro surname spread to other parts of the world, including the Americas and Africa. One prominent individual from this period was José Barreiro y Ramos, a 19th-century Cuban painter and artist known for his portraits and landscape paintings.

Other notable individuals with the Barreiro surname include Manuel Barreiro González (1890-1975), a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as the President of the Parliament of Galicia, and José Barreiro (1914-1992), a Portuguese politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1968 to 1970.

Throughout its history, the surname Barreiro has been associated with various occupations, including farming, fishing, and trade, reflecting the diverse economic activities of the regions where it originated.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Barreiro

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

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 Barreiro was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 25.18% 535
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.89% 19
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.13% 24
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.71% 15
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.61% 13
Hispanic Origin 71.48% 1,519

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 25.18% 24.14% 4.22%
Black 0.89% 1.13% -23.76%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.13% 0.48% 80.75%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.71% 0.83% -15.58%
Two or More Races 0.61% 2.32% -116.72%
Hispanic 71.48% 71.10% 0.53%

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Barreiro, 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!

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

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

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

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