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

Canals, 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 Canals surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Canals in America

Canals is the 52482nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Canals surname appeared 395 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 Canals.

We can also compare 2010 data for Canals 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 Canals

The surname Canals is of Spanish and Catalan origin, derived from the Spanish word "canal" meaning "channel" or "artificial waterway." It likely originated as a topographic name for someone who lived near a canal or as an occupational name for someone who worked on or maintained canals.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Canals can be found in the 14th century Catalan manuscript, the Llibre del Repartiment de València, which documented the distribution of lands and properties in the Kingdom of Valencia after the Reconquista. Several individuals with the surname Canals were listed as receiving land grants in the Valencia area during this time.

In the 15th century, the name appeared in various records from the city of Barcelona, suggesting that the surname was well-established in Catalonia by that point. Some early examples include Joan Canals, a merchant mentioned in a 1435 document, and Pere Canals, a notary public whose name appeared in a legal record from 1467.

The Canals surname also has ties to several notable figures throughout history. One of the earliest was Miquel Canals, a 14th-century Catalan cleric and historian who authored a chronicle of the reign of King James I of Aragon. Another prominent individual was Antonio Canals y Vilar (1679-1753), a Spanish painter and engraver known for his works in the Baroque style.

In the 19th century, Manuel Canals y Martí (1822-1901) was a Catalan architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Barcelona, including the Palau de la Música Catalana. Narcís Oller Canals (1846-1930), a Catalan novelist and dramatist, was also an important literary figure of the Renaixença movement.

Additionally, the surname Canals has been associated with various place names throughout Spain and Catalonia, such as Canal de Navarrés, a municipality in the Valencia region, and Canal de Berdún, a village in the province of Huesca, Aragon. These place names likely derived from the presence of canals or waterways in those areas, further reflecting the topographic origins of the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Canals

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

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

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

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