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

Basque, 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 Basque surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Basque in America

Basque is the 58481st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Basque surname appeared 347 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 Basque.

We can also compare 2010 data for Basque 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 Basque

The surname Basque originates from the Basque region, a cultural region spanning parts of northeastern Spain and southwestern France. The name is derived from the Basque language, one of the few pre-Indo-European languages still spoken in Europe today.

The Basque people have a long and rich history dating back to ancient times. The earliest known records mentioning individuals with the surname Basque can be found in medieval documents from the Kingdom of Navarre, a region that was a stronghold of Basque culture and language.

One of the earliest documented instances of the surname Basque is in the 12th century, when the nobleman Sancho Basque was mentioned in a charter issued by King Sancho VI of Navarre. Another notable figure from this period was Juan Basque, a Basque soldier who fought alongside King Alfonso VIII of Castile during the Reconquista.

In the 15th century, the surname Basque appeared in records from the town of Biarritz, located in the French Basque Country. One of the earliest known bearers of the name from this area was Pierre Basque, a prominent merchant and shipowner who lived in the late 1400s.

The Basque surname also has a connection to the Basque whaling industry, which was a significant economic activity in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. Juan de Basque, a famous Basque whaler from the 1600s, is recorded as having led successful expeditions to the waters off Newfoundland and Greenland.

Another notable figure with the Basque surname was Ignacio Basque, a 17th-century Basque priest and missionary who traveled to the Americas and is credited with establishing several missions in what is now the southwestern United States.

Throughout history, the Basque surname has been associated with various place names and locations within the Basque region, such as Baskonia, Vasconia, and Euskadi. These place names often reflect the unique cultural and linguistic identity of the Basque people.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Basque

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

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

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

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