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

Borba, 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 Borba surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Borba in America

Borba is the 16385th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Borba surname appeared 1,757 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 Borba.

We can also compare 2010 data for Borba 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 Borba

The surname Borba originates from Portugal, with records of the name dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Portuguese word "borba," meaning "bubble" or "fleck," likely referring to a physical characteristic or occupation related to soap-making or something similar.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Borba name can be found in the "Livro Velho de Linhagens" (Old Book of Lineages), a Portuguese genealogical manuscript from the 13th century. This document mentions a nobleman named Gomes Mendes de Borba, who lived in the region of Alentejo during the reign of King Afonso III (1210-1279).

The Borba name is also closely tied to the town of Borba, located in the Évora district of Portugal. This town was once an important center for wine production and may have given rise to the surname, as it was common for people to adopt place names as their family names.

One notable figure with the Borba surname was João Fernandes de Borba, a 15th-century Portuguese navigator and explorer. He was a companion of Bartolomeu Dias and participated in the exploration of the West African coast in the late 1400s.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Pedro Vaz de Borba, a 16th-century Portuguese architect and military engineer. He was responsible for designing and constructing several fortifications in Portugal and its overseas territories, including the famous Castelo de São Jorge in Lisbon.

In the 17th century, Diogo de Borba Pereira was a Portuguese historian and author who wrote extensively about the history and genealogy of Portuguese noble families. His work, "Nobiliário das Gerações de Entre Douro e Minho" (Nobility of the Generations Between the Douro and Minho Rivers), is an important source for studying the ancestry of many Portuguese families.

During the 18th century, Luís António de Borba Garcez was a prominent Portuguese lawyer and judge. He served as a magistrate in the Tribunal da Relação (Court of Appeals) in Lisbon and was known for his expertise in legal matters.

In the 19th century, António José de Borba was a Portuguese military officer and politician. He served as a deputy in the Portuguese parliament and played an active role in the liberal and constitutional movements of his time.

While the Borba surname is of Portuguese origin, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly to former Portuguese colonies and territories, such as Brazil, Cape Verde, and Macau.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Borba

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!