Cabeza last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Cabeza

A Spanish surname referring to a person with a large head.

Cabeza, 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 Cabeza surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cabeza in America

Cabeza is the 26422nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cabeza surname appeared 924 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 Cabeza.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cabeza 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 26422 32094 -19.39%
Count 924 678 30.71%
Proportion per 100k 0.31 0.25 21.43%

The history of the last name Cabeza

The surname Cabeza originated in Spain and has its roots in the Spanish language. The word "cabeza" translates to "head" in English, and it is believed that the name was initially bestowed upon someone with a distinctive physical feature, such as a large or uniquely shaped head.

The earliest known record of the name Cabeza can be traced back to the 12th century, when it appeared in various historical documents and manuscripts from the Iberian Peninsula. During this period, surnames were not yet standardized, and Cabeza may have been written in different spellings, such as Cabesa or Cabesa.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Cabeza was Rodrigo Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer and navigator who lived from 1490 to 1557. He is best known for his journey across the Gulf of Mexico and his encounters with Native American tribes in the present-day southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Another notable figure bearing the Cabeza name was Juan Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish conquistador who lived from 1477 to 1556. He played a significant role in the conquest of the Americas and participated in several expeditions to the Caribbean islands and Central America.

In the 16th century, the Cabeza surname was also found in various places across Spain, including Andalusia, Castile, and Aragon. Some of these locations were known by different spellings or place names at the time, such as Sevilla (Seville), Córdoba (Cordoba), and Zaragoza (Saragossa).

In the realm of literature, one of the most famous individuals with the Cabeza surname was Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681), a celebrated Spanish playwright and poet. His works, including "La vida es sueño" (Life Is a Dream), are regarded as masterpieces of the Spanish Golden Age.

Another notable figure was Francisco Cabeza de Vaca (1537-1608), a Spanish Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Guadalajara in New Spain (present-day Mexico) from 1599 to 1608. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Catholic Church in the region.

While the Cabeza surname is widely associated with Spain and its historical figures, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and has evolved with various spellings and variations over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cabeza

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

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 Cabeza was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 8.77% 81
Non-Hispanic Black Only 1.84% 17
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.08% 10
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 87.99% 813

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 8.77% 12.68% -36.46%
Black 1.84% 1.62% 12.72%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.08% 1.92% -56.00%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 87.99% 83.19% 5.61%

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

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

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"Cabeza last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/cabeza-surname-popularity/.

"Cabeza last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/cabeza-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Cabeza last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/cabeza-surname-popularity/.

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