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

Castañuela, 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 Castañuela surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Castañuela in America

Castañuela is the 76533rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Castañuela surname appeared 251 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 Castañuela.

We can also compare 2010 data for Castañuela 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 Castañuela

The surname Castanuela has its origins in Spain, dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "castaño," meaning chestnut or chestnut tree, combined with the suffix "-uela," which is a diminutive form. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near or worked with chestnut trees.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Castanuela can be found in the Libro de la Montería, a hunting treatise written in the 14th century during the reign of King Alfonso XI of Castile. This document mentions a place called "Castañuela," which could have been the origin of the surname.

In the 16th century, the name appears in various historical records from the region of Andalusia, particularly in the city of Seville. One notable individual from this period was Juan de Castanuela, a merchant and landowner who was born in Seville in 1542 and lived until 1618.

During the 17th century, the Castanuela family seemed to have expanded their presence across Spain. Records from this time mention a Diego de Castanuela, who served as a soldier in the Spanish army and participated in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).

As Spain began to establish colonies in the Americas, the Castanuela name also made its way to the New World. In the late 18th century, a María Castanuela was recorded as one of the earliest settlers in the region of Texas, which was then part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain.

Another notable figure with the surname Castanuela was Carlos Castanuela, a Spanish painter and artist who lived in the 19th century. He was born in Madrid in 1822 and is known for his landscape paintings depicting scenes from various regions of Spain.

Throughout history, the Castanuela surname has appeared in various spelling variations, such as Castañuela, Castanuella, and Castañuelas, reflecting the evolution of the Spanish language and regional dialects.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Castañuela

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!