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

Bermeo, 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 Bermeo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bermeo in America

Bermeo is the 16157th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bermeo surname appeared 1,790 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 Bermeo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bermeo 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 Bermeo

The surname BERMEO originated in Spain, specifically in the Basque region. The earliest known records of this name date back to the late 15th century. It is likely derived from the town of Bermeo, located in the Biscay province of the Basque Country. The town's name is believed to come from the Basque words "ibar" meaning valley and "mea" meaning small or narrow, suggesting the name refers to a small valley.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the BERMEO surname can be found in the archives of the city of San Sebastian, where a certain Juan de BERMEO is mentioned in a document from 1492. Another early reference is in the records of the village of Guernica, where a family by the name of BERMEO is listed as landowners in the early 16th century.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, several individuals with the BERMEO surname gained prominence in various fields. One notable figure was Pedro de BERMEO, a Basque mariner and explorer who accompanied Juan Sebastián Elcano on the famous Magellan expedition that circumnavigated the globe between 1519 and 1522.

In the realm of literature, Juan de BERMEO was a renowned poet and playwright from Bilbao, active during the late 16th century. His works are considered among the earliest examples of Basque literature.

The BERMEO surname also has a connection to the Spanish colonial era in the Americas. In 1534, a certain Andrés de BERMEO from Bermeo, Biscay, was among the early Spanish settlers in what is now Venezuela, where he served as one of the founding residents of the city of Coro.

Another notable individual was Martín de BERMEO, a 17th-century Spanish military engineer who oversaw the construction of several fortifications in the Caribbean, including the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In more recent times, the surname BERMEO has continued to be borne by individuals of Basque descent, both in Spain and in various parts of the world where Basque immigrants settled, such as Argentina, Mexico, and the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bermeo

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

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

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

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