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

Cancela, 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 Cancela surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cancela in America

Cancela is the 74826th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cancela surname appeared 258 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 Cancela.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cancela 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 Cancela

The surname Cancela is of Portuguese origin, derived from the Latin word "cancellus," meaning a small enclosure or railing. It is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century, likely referring to someone who lived near a gate or fence.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cancela can be found in the "Livro Velho de Linhagens" (Old Book of Lineages), a 14th-century Portuguese genealogical manuscript. This document mentions a nobleman named Vasco Cancela, who lived during the reign of King Afonso Henriques (1109-1185), the first king of Portugal.

The name Cancela was also present in various medieval documents from the Iberian Peninsula, such as land grants, charters, and legal proceedings. In some cases, the name appeared with different spellings, like "Canzela" or "Cansela," reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and orthography.

One notable figure with the surname Cancela was João Cancela, a 15th-century Portuguese navigator who participated in the early voyages of exploration along the west coast of Africa. He was part of the expeditions led by Diogo Cão, which helped establish Portuguese outposts in present-day Angola and Namibia.

Another historical figure was Alonso Cancela, a Spanish soldier and explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés during the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century. He played a significant role in the famous battle of Otumba in 1520, where the Spanish forces defeated the Aztec warriors.

In the 18th century, Manuel Cancela was a prominent Spanish architect and engineer who designed several notable buildings and infrastructure projects in Madrid and other cities in Spain. His most famous work is the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, built between 1753 and 1765.

In the 19th century, José Cancela was a Cuban writer and journalist known for his contributions to the development of Cuban literature and journalism. He founded several literary and political publications, including the newspaper "El Siglo" (The Century).

Finally, in the 20th century, Arturo Cancela was an Argentine painter and sculptor known for his abstract and surrealist works. He was a prominent figure in the avant-garde art movements of the 1940s and 1950s in Buenos Aires.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cancela

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

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

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

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