2000
#134,037
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Birruete
A surname likely derived from the Spanish toponym Birruete, referring to someone from that town.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 189 Americans carry the last name Birruete. That puts it at #113,026 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.06 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,813,515 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Birruete 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
189
1 in 1,813,515
Census rank
#113,026
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
165
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 165 bearers of the surname Birruete in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.06 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 113026th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Birruete, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Birruete
The surname BIRRUETE has its origins in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France. Deriving from the Basque language, the name is believed to have originally referred to a person from a specific town or village. One possible meaning is "the one from Berroueta," which could have been an early spelling of a place name.
BIRRUETE is an uncommon surname, with few historical references found in old records or manuscripts. However, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name throughout history. One of the earliest recorded examples is Juan de Birruete, a Spanish soldier born around 1520 who fought in the conquest of Peru alongside Francisco Pizarro.
Another early figure was Martín de Birruete, a Basque merchant and explorer who lived in the late 16th century. He is said to have been among the first Europeans to establish trade routes with the Philippines.
In the 18th century, there was a Spanish naval officer named José de Birruete y Galindo, born in 1736, who served in the Spanish Armada and participated in various naval battles against the British.
Moving into the 19th century, there was a renowned Spanish sculptor named Agustín Birruete y Rodríguez, born in 1820. He was known for his neoclassical works and sculpted several important public monuments in Madrid.
Finally, one of the more recent notable figures with the BIRRUETE surname was María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva, Duchess of Alba, born in 1926 and died in 2014. She was a member of the Spanish nobility and one of the wealthiest women in Spain.
While not a common surname, BIRRUETE has a rich history rooted in the Basque region of Spain and France, with various individuals bearing this name making their mark in fields such as exploration, military service, and the arts.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Birruete
Among Census respondents with the surname Birruete, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Birruete 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 Birruete surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.8% · 163
- White1.2% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Birruete
Birruete 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
#95,955
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 190
+74 bearers (+63.8%)
Per 100,000 0.06
Rank movement Up 38,082 places
2020
#113,026
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 165
-25 bearers (-13.2%)
Per 100,000 0.06
Rank movement Down 17,071 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #134,037 | 116 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #95,955 | 190 | 0.06 | +74 bearers (+63.8%) | Up 38,082 places |
| 2020 | #113,026 | 165 | 0.06 | -25 bearers (-13.2%) | Down 17,071 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 Birruete 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 | #95,955 | #113,026 | -17.8% |
| Count | 190 | 165 | -13.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.06 | 0.06 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Birruete bearers went from 190 to 165 (-13.2% change). The surname moved down 17,071 positions in the national ranking, going from #95,955 to #113,026.
FAQ
Birruete surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Birruete?
Name Census estimates that about 189 living Americans carry the surname Birruete. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,813,515 residents.
How common is Birruete?
Birruete ranks #113,026 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.06 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 165 people with the surname Birruete. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (189), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.06 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.06 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 Birruete.
Has Birruete become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Birruete went from 190 recorded bearers to 165. That is a decrease of 25 (-13.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #95,955 to #113,026.
What does the Census say about the background of Birruete?
Among Census respondents with the surname Birruete, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%). 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 Birruete in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.8% (163 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Birruete appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (98.8%), White (1.2%). 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 Birruete (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 Birruete mean?
A surname likely derived from the Spanish toponym Birruete, referring to someone from that town. 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 Birruete (0.06 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 share the surname Birruete?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.