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

Benicio, 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 Benicio surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Benicio in America

Benicio is the 116829th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Benicio surname appeared 149 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 Benicio.

The history of the last name Benicio

The surname Benicio originated in Spain and Portugal during the medieval period. It is derived from the Latin name Benedictus, meaning "blessed," which was a popular name among early Christians. The name Benicio is believed to have evolved from a diminutive form of Benedictus, likely Beneçio or Benezo.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Benicio can be found in the medieval Spanish chronicles "Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris," written in the 12th century. This chronicle mentions a nobleman named Benicio de León, who was a prominent figure in the court of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile.

In Portugal, the name Benicio can be traced back to the 13th century, with records showing individuals bearing this surname in various regions, including Beira and Alentejo. Some of the earliest documented examples include Martim Benicio, a landowner from Coimbra in the mid-13th century, and João Benicio, a merchant from Santarém in the late 13th century.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Benicio surname gained prominence in both Spain and Portugal. Notable individuals from this period include Diego Benicio, a Spanish explorer and navigator who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493, and Pedro Benicio de Andrade, a Portuguese soldier and explorer who participated in the conquest of Brazil in the 16th century.

In the 17th century, a notable figure with the surname Benicio was Fray Benicio Arias Montano, a Spanish scholar, theologian, and humanist who was born in 1527 and died in 1598. He is renowned for his work on the Polyglot Bible, a multilingual edition of the Bible commissioned by King Philip II of Spain.

Another prominent individual bearing the Benicio surname was Miguel Benicio de Castro, a Portuguese lawyer and politician who lived from 1718 to 1792. He served as a judge in the high court of Portugal and was a respected legal scholar during the Age of Enlightenment.

In more recent history, one of the most famous individuals with the surname Benicio is the American actor Benicio del Toro, born in 1967. He has starred in numerous critically acclaimed films and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie "Traffic" in 2000.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Benicio

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

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 Benicio 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.

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

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

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