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

Belo, 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 Belo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Belo in America

Belo is the 35489th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Belo surname appeared 634 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 Belo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Belo 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 Belo

The surname Belo has its origins in Portugal, where it first emerged in the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Latin word "bellus," meaning beautiful or handsome. This suggests that the name may have originally been a descriptive nickname for someone considered physically attractive.

One of the earliest recorded references to the Belo surname can be found in the "Livro Velho de Linhagens," a Portuguese genealogical record compiled in the 13th century. This document mentions a nobleman named Pero Belo, indicating that the name was already in use among the Portuguese aristocracy during that time.

The Belo surname also appears in historical documents related to the Portuguese exploration and colonization of Brazil. In the 16th century, Pedro Alvares Cabral, the Portuguese explorer who claimed Brazil for Portugal, had a navigator named Gaspar Lemos Belo among his crew.

Later, in the 17th century, a prominent figure named Francisco Belo de Oliveira served as the Governor of Pernambuco, one of the captaincies of colonial Brazil. This suggests that the Belo surname had gained considerable prominence and respect within Portuguese society by that time.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the Belo surname. One example is José Belo de Lobo (1805-1872), a Portuguese politician and writer who served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1851 to 1856.

Another notable figure was Manuel Belo Rodrigues (1808-1868), a Portuguese explorer and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of African flora and fauna. He was born in Luanda, Angola, which was then a Portuguese colony.

In the United States, one prominent individual with the Belo surname was Alfred Horatio Belo (1839-1901), a American newspaper publisher and entrepreneur who founded the Dallas Morning News in 1885. He played a significant role in the development of the media industry in Texas.

While the Belo surname is more commonly found in Portugal and Brazil, its historical presence can be traced across various regions influenced by Portuguese exploration and colonization, including parts of Africa and Asia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Belo

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

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

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

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