Bunyea last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Bunyea

An English surname originating from Bougnies, a town in Belgium.

Bunyea, 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 Bunyea surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bunyea in America

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

The Bunyea 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 Bunyea.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bunyea 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank8535785996-0.75%
Count2192028.08%
Proportion per 100k0.070.070.00%

The history of the last name Bunyea

The surname BUNYEA originated in the Brittany region of northwestern France during the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old Breton words "bun" meaning "hill" and "yez" meaning "stream" or "brook", suggesting the name may have referred to someone who lived near a hill with a brook running alongside it.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in a 1598 parish record from the village of Plougastel-Daoulas, where a man named Yvon Bunyea is listed as a resident. The name was also found in various other Breton town and village records from that period, sometimes spelled slightly differently as Bunnyea or Bunnyah.

While the BUNYEA surname does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership in England, there are references to similar place names in Normandy, such as the village of Buneville, which may share a common linguistic root with the surname.

In the 17th century, some Bunyeas migrated from Brittany to England, where the name can be found in records from counties like Dorset and Somerset. One notable individual was Jean Bunyea, born in 1645 in Rennes, Brittany, who later settled in Weymouth, Dorset, and worked as a merchant trader.

Other historical figures bearing the BUNYEA surname include:

  1. Jacques Bunyea (1712-1789), a French soldier who fought in the War of Austrian Succession and later became a landowner in Brittany.
  2. Marie Bunyea (1765-1832), a Breton seamstress known for her intricate embroidery work, which can be found in several museums in France.
  3. William Bunyea (1804-1876), an English sailor who served on several voyages to the West Indies and wrote a memoir about his experiences at sea.
  4. Émilie Bunyea (1878-1962), a French artist and painter who was part of the Impressionist movement and had her works exhibited in Paris and other European cities.
  5. Louis Bunyea (1901-1987), a French-Canadian politician who served as a member of the Quebec National Assembly for over two decades.

While the BUNYEA surname is not among the most common in the world, its origins can be traced back to the picturesque region of Brittany, where it likely originated as a descriptive name for those living near a particular geographical feature.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bunyea

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

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 Bunyea was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only94.06%206
Non-Hispanic Black Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only0.00%0
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin4.11%9

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 Bunyea has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White94.06%92.57%1.60%
Black(S)%(S)%(S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander0.00%0.00%0.00%
American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races(S)%2.48%(S)%
Hispanic4.11%3.47%16.89%

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

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

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