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

Brieño, 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 Brieño surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brieño in America

Brieño is the 85357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brieño surname appeared 219 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 Brieño.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brieño 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 Brieño

The surname Brieno is believed to have originated in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in the regions of Spain and Portugal, during the medieval period. It is derived from the Latin word "brio," meaning vigor, spirit, or liveliness. This suggests that the name may have been initially bestowed upon an individual with a lively or energetic demeanor.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brieno can be traced back to the 12th century, when it appeared in a manuscript from the Monastery of Santa María de Sobrado in Galicia, Spain. This document mentioned a certain "Fernán Brieno," who was a landowner in the region.

In the 13th century, the name Brieno was found in several Portuguese records, indicating its presence in both Spain and Portugal during that time. One notable individual was João Brieno, a knight who participated in the Reconquista, the campaign to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Moorish rule.

Moving into the 14th century, the name Brieno gained prominence in the Kingdom of Aragon, located in the eastern part of present-day Spain. Historical records from that period mention a nobleman named Pedro Brieno, who was a prominent figure in the court of King Pedro IV of Aragon.

In the 15th century, the Brieno surname was associated with a prominent family from the town of Calatayud in Aragon. This family produced several notable individuals, including Álvaro Brieno, a scholar and poet who was born in 1432 and gained recognition for his works in the Aragonese language.

Another significant figure bearing the Brieno surname was Hernán Brieno, a Spanish explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to conquer Mexico in the 16th century. Hernán Brieno played a crucial role in the conquest, serving as one of Cortés's trusted lieutenants and leading various military campaigns.

Throughout the centuries, the Brieno surname has been linked to various place names and locations within the Iberian Peninsula, such as Briones, a municipality in the La Rioja region of Spain, and Brião, a parish in the northern Portuguese district of Viana do Castelo. These place names may have influenced the spelling variations of the surname over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brieño

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Brieño, 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!