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

Castaño, 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 Castaño surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Castaño in America

Castaño is the 5660th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Castaño surname appeared 6,133 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Castaño.

We can also compare 2010 data for Castaño 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 Castaño

The surname Castano has its origins in Spain and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Spanish word "castaño," meaning "chestnut," referring to the color brown or reddish-brown. The name may have been given to someone with chestnut-colored hair or complexion.

The earliest known record of the Castano surname appears in the Libro del Repartimiento de Sevilla, a document from the 13th century that recorded the distribution of land and property in the region of Seville after the Christian conquest of the city in 1248. Several individuals with the name Castano are mentioned in this historical record.

One of the earliest documented individuals with the Castano surname was Pedro Castano, a Spanish military leader who participated in the conquest of Mexico in the 16th century. He was born around 1490 in Seville and served under Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

In the 17th century, the Castano surname gained prominence with Juan Castano, a Spanish painter born in Murcia in 1590. He was known for his religious paintings and works depicting scenes from classical mythology. Juan Castano's artworks can be found in various museums and churches across Spain.

Another notable individual with the Castano surname was José Castano y Ayala, a Spanish politician and statesman who lived from 1768 to 1843. He served as the Minister of Finance during the reign of King Ferdinand VII and played a significant role in the political and economic affairs of Spain during the early 19th century.

In the 20th century, the Castano surname was carried by Margarita Castano, a renowned Spanish composer and pianist born in 1919 in Madrid. She composed numerous works for solo piano, chamber ensembles, and orchestras, and her compositions were widely performed both in Spain and internationally.

Throughout history, the Castano surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Castañeda, a municipality in the province of Cantabria, Spain, and Castano Primo, a town in the province of Milan, Italy, which may have originated from individuals bearing the surname Castano who settled in these locations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Castaño

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

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

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

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