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

Cena, 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 Cena surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cena in America

Cena is the 30277th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cena surname appeared 773 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 Cena.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cena 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 Cena

The surname CENA originated in Italy, with records dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Italian word "cena," which means "dinner" or "evening meal." The name likely referred to someone who worked in the culinary trade or was associated with the preparation of evening meals.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name CENA can be found in the historic Florentine tax records of 1427, where a certain Piero di Cena is mentioned. This suggests that the name was already in use in the early 15th century in the region of Tuscany.

In the 16th century, the CENA name appeared in various Italian documents, such as the Venetian census records of 1548, where a family by the name of Cena is listed as residents of the city.

The name CENA has also been associated with places and locations in Italy. For instance, the village of Cena San Giovanni in the province of Reggio Emilia is believed to have derived its name from the surname.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname CENA. One such person was Giovanni Battista Cena (1590-1673), an Italian painter from the Baroque period who was renowned for his religious works and frescoes in churches across Italy.

Another prominent figure was Giambattista Cena (1661-1720), an Italian mathematician and professor at the University of Milan. He made significant contributions to the field of calculus and authored several treatises on mathematics.

In the 19th century, Antonio Cena (1830-1905) was an Italian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Italian Parliament and was actively involved in the Risorgimento movement for Italian unification.

The CENA name also gained recognition in the literary world with the Italian writer and journalist Giovanni Cena (1870-1917), who was known for his novels and short stories depicting life in rural Piedmont.

Additionally, Mariano Cena (1920-2004) was a renowned Italian journalist and author, renowned for his investigative reporting and books on social issues and political scandals in Italy during the latter half of the 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cena

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

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

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

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