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

Bertão, 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 Bertão surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bertão in America

Bertão is the 118853rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bertão surname appeared 146 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 Bertão.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bertão 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 Bertão

The surname BERTAO originated in Portugal, likely in the 12th or 13th century. It is believed to be a derivative of the Germanic name Berhthari, which means "bright army" or "bright warrior." This name was brought to the Iberian Peninsula during the Visigothic occupation and later evolved into various forms, including BERTAO.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the BERTAO surname can be found in the Livro Velho de Linhagens, a Portuguese genealogical manuscript from the 13th century. It mentions a certain Martim Bertao, a knight who fought in the Reconquista against the Moors.

In the 14th century, there are records of a Pero Bertao, a wealthy landowner from the region of Trás-os-Montes. He was granted several estates by the Portuguese Crown for his services during the wars against Castile.

During the Age of Discovery, the BERTAO name was carried across the Portuguese Empire. One notable figure was João Bertao, a navigator who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his famous voyage to India in 1498.

In the 16th century, Pedro Bertao (1495-1551) was a prominent Catholic priest and theologian. He served as a canon in the Cathedral of Évora and wrote several treatises on religious matters.

Another notable BERTAO was Manuel Bertao (1675-1743), a Portuguese soldier and colonial administrator. He served as the Governor of Portuguese Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) from 1735 to 1738.

Throughout history, the BERTAO surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Quintã de Bertão in the municipality of Bragança, and Aldeia de Bertão in the municipality of Vinhais, both in northern Portugal.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bertão

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

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

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

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