Find out how popular the last name Cela is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cela.
A Spanish surname derived from the Latin word "cella" meaning a room or cell.
Cela, 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 Cela surname is from the 2010 census data.
Cela is the 35345th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Cela surname appeared 637 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 Cela.
We can also compare 2010 data for Cela 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.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 35345 | 63297 | -56.67% |
| Count | 637 | 295 | 73.39% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.22 | 0.11 | 66.67% |
The surname Cela has its origins in Spain, and can be traced back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Latin word "cella," meaning a small room or cell. This likely referred to a small dwelling or hut, which may have been the residence of the family from which the name originated.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cela is in the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th-century manuscript from the Santiago de Compostela region of Spain. This document includes a list of pilgrims who traveled to the city, and a few individuals with the surname Cela are mentioned.
In the 13th century, there are records of a nobleman named Pedro Cela who was granted lands in the province of Galicia by King Alfonso IX of León and Galicia. This suggests that the name had become established among the aristocracy by this time.
The Cela surname is also linked to several place names in Spain, such as the village of Cela in the province of Pontevedra, and the municipality of Cela in the province of Ourense. These locations likely played a role in the geographic spread of the name.
Over the centuries, various notable individuals have borne the Cela surname. One of the most famous was Camilo José Cela (1916-2002), a Spanish novelist and essayist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1989 for his work, which included the novel "La Familia de Pascual Duarte."
Other historical figures with the Cela surname include:
While the Cela surname may have originated from humble beginnings, it has left a lasting mark on Spanish history and culture, with notable contributions in literature, art, religion, and public service.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cela.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cela was:
| Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic White Only | 67.97% | 433 |
| Non-Hispanic Black Only | 6.12% | 39 |
| Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 0.94% | 6 |
| Hispanic Origin | 24.80% | 158 |
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 Cela has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 67.97% | 60.00% | 12.46% |
| Black | 6.12% | 8.47% | -32.21% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Two or More Races | 0.94% | 4.75% | -133.92% |
| Hispanic | 24.80% | 26.10% | -5.11% |
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 Cela was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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