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

Catalan, 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 Catalan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Catalan in America

Catalan is the 5076th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Catalan surname appeared 6,899 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 Catalan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Catalan 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 Catalan

The surname Catalan originates from the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain and southeastern France. It dates back to the early medieval period, around the 9th to 12th centuries.

The name Catalan is derived from the Latin word "Catalaunus," which referred to the ancient Catalaunian Fields, a region that encompassed parts of modern-day Catalonia and Languedoc. This area was once inhabited by the Catalauni, a people of Celtic or Germanic descent.

In the 11th century, the Count of Barcelona adopted the title "Count of the Catalans," further solidifying the association between the name and the region. The name Catalan began to appear in various medieval documents and records from this time period.

One of the earliest known references to the surname Catalan can be found in the "Liber Feudorum Maior," a cartulary (collection of charters) from the Crown of Aragon, dating back to the 13th century. This document contains references to individuals with the surname Catalan, indicating their presence in the region.

In the 14th century, a prominent figure named Ramon Muntaner (c. 1265-1336), a Catalan soldier and chronicler, used the term "Catalans" to refer to the people of Catalonia in his literary work, "Crònica."

Another notable individual with the surname Catalan was Guillem de Catalan (c. 1300-1362), a Catalan theologian and philosopher who taught at the University of Paris in the 14th century.

During the 15th century, a notable Catalan family bearing this surname was the Catalan family from Girona. This family produced several prominent figures, including Ferrer de Catalan (c. 1400-1470), a Catalan knight and diplomat.

In the 16th century, the name Catalan appeared in various records and documents across Catalonia and neighboring regions. One example is Miquel Catalan (c. 1540-1612), a Catalan painter and engraver known for his religious works.

Throughout the centuries, the surname Catalan has been associated with numerous individuals from Catalonia, reflecting the region's rich cultural heritage and historical significance.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Catalan

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

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

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

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