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

Cabral, 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 Cabral surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cabral in America

Cabral is the 1557th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cabral surname appeared 23,128 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Cabral.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cabral 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 Cabral

The surname Cabral has its origins in Portugal, and it can be traced back to the 14th century. The name is derived from the Portuguese word "cabra," which means "goat," and it was likely given as a descriptive surname to someone who worked with goats or had a physical resemblance to one.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Cabral name can be found in the "Livro Velho de Linhagens," a Portuguese manuscript from the 14th century that chronicles the genealogies of noble families. The manuscript mentions a Gonçalo Cabral, who served as a knight and participated in the conquest of the Algarve region in southern Portugal in the 13th century.

During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Cabral name gained prominence due to the exploits of Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467-1520), a Portuguese navigator who is credited with the discovery of Brazil in 1500. Cabral's fleet was the first to make landfall in what is now the South American country, and he claimed the territory for Portugal.

Another notable figure with the Cabral surname was Pedro Cabral de Melo (c. 1510-1572), a Portuguese nobleman and military commander who served as the Governor of Portuguese India from 1568 to 1572. He played a crucial role in defending Portuguese territories in the Indian subcontinent against the challenges posed by the Ottoman Empire and local rulers.

In the 17th century, Miguel Cabral de Noronha (c. 1620-1684) was a Portuguese military commander and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Portuguese Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) from 1677 to 1684. He is remembered for his efforts to strengthen Portuguese defenses and promote economic development in the colony.

Another notable figure with the Cabral surname was José António Cabral (1753-1822), a Portuguese mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the fields of astronomy and geodesy. He was responsible for the reformation of the Portuguese calendar and the establishment of the first observatory in Portugal.

While the Cabral name has its roots in Portugal, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including Brazil, where it is a common surname due to the country's historical ties with Portugal. The name has also been adopted in other Portuguese-speaking countries and regions, such as Goa, where it was brought by Portuguese colonizers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cabral

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

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

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

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