2000
#53,556
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 362
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.13
Very Rare Last name
Birrueta
A Basque surname meaning "twice the headdress" or "two hats".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 657 Americans carry the last name Birrueta. That puts it at #41,034 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.19 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 521,696 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Birrueta surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
657
1 in 521,696
Census rank
#41,034
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
573
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 573 bearers of the surname Birrueta in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.19 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 41034th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Birrueta, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Black (0.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Birrueta
The surname Birrueta has its origins in the Basque region of Spain and France. It is believed to have derived from the Basque word "birri", which means "turn" or "twist", and the Basque suffix "-eta", indicating a place of origin. The name likely referred to a person who lived near a winding or twisting road or path.
Birrueta is an old surname, with records dating back to the 16th century. One of the earliest known references is in the Archivo General de Navarra, a collection of historical documents from the former Kingdom of Navarre, where the name appears in records from the late 1500s.
In the 17th century, the Birrueta name can be found in various Basque municipal records and church registers, particularly in the provinces of Gipuzkoa and Navarra. One notable example is Juan de Birrueta, a landowner from the town of Legazpi, who was born in 1645 and died in 1712.
The 18th century saw the Birrueta surname spread to other parts of Spain, as well as to Spanish colonies in the Americas. Sebastián de Birrueta y Olazábal, born in 1721 in Azkoitia, Gipuzkoa, was a Spanish naval officer who served in the Spanish West Indies and participated in the Battle of Havana against the British in 1762.
In the 19th century, the Birrueta name gained prominence with José María Birrueta y Almandoz, a Spanish politician and lawyer who was born in 1803 in Pamplona and served as the Minister of Grace and Justice in the government of Baldomero Espartero from 1841 to 1843.
Another notable figure was Joaquín Birrueta y Almandoz, born in 1808 in Pamplona, who was a Spanish military officer and politician. He served as the Captain General of Navarre and later as the Governor of the Province of Cádiz in the mid-19th century.
As the Birrueta surname spread beyond the Basque region, it sometimes took on different spellings, such as Virrueta or Verrueta, reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and orthography.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Birrueta
Among Census respondents with the surname Birrueta, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Black (0.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Birrueta bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Birrueta surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.8% · 566
- White0.9% · 5
- Black or African American0.2% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Birrueta
Birrueta appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#36,099
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 621
+259 bearers (+71.5%)
Per 100,000 0.21
Rank movement Up 17,457 places
2020
#41,034
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 573
-48 bearers (-7.7%)
Per 100,000 0.19
Rank movement Down 4,935 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #53,556 | 362 | 0.13 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #36,099 | 621 | 0.21 | +259 bearers (+71.5%) | Up 17,457 places |
| 2020 | #41,034 | 573 | 0.19 | -48 bearers (-7.7%) | Down 4,935 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Birrueta surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #36,099 | #41,034 | -13.7% |
| Count | 621 | 573 | -7.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.21 | 0.19 | -8.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Birrueta bearers went from 621 to 573 (-7.7% change). The surname moved down 4,935 positions in the national ranking, going from #36,099 to #41,034.
FAQ
Birrueta surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Birrueta?
Name Census estimates that about 657 living Americans carry the surname Birrueta. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 521,696 residents.
How common is Birrueta?
Birrueta ranks #41,034 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.19 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 573 people with the surname Birrueta. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (657), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.19 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.19 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Birrueta.
Has Birrueta become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Birrueta went from 621 recorded bearers to 573. That is a decrease of 48 (-7.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #36,099 to #41,034.
What does the Census say about the background of Birrueta?
Among Census respondents with the surname Birrueta, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Black (0.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Birrueta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.8% (566 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Birrueta appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (98.8%), White (0.9%), Black (0.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Birrueta (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Birrueta mean?
A Basque surname meaning "twice the headdress" or "two hats". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Birrueta (0.19 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Birrueta?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.