2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Cobio
A rare Spanish surname possibly derived from a place name or occupation.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 126 Americans carry the last name Cobio. That puts it at #149,446 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,720,273 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Cobio surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
126
1 in 2,720,273
Census rank
#149,446
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
110
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 110 bearers of the surname Cobio in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 149446th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Cobio, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Black (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Cobio
The surname COBIO is believed to have originated in the Basque region of Spain and France during the 13th century. It is derived from the Basque word "kobo," which means "hide" or "skin," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name may have been tanners or leatherworkers by trade. The name was initially spelled as "Covio" or "Cobyo" in early records.
One of the earliest documented references to the name COBIO can be found in the medieval Fuero de Vizcaya, a legal code that governed the Basque territories. In this document, dated around 1452, a person named Juan Cobio is listed as a witness in a land dispute.
During the 16th century, the COBIO surname began to spread beyond the Basque region as families migrated to other parts of Spain and the New World. In 1542, a record from the city of Seville mentions a merchant named Pedro Cobio, who traded in leather goods. This suggests that the family's association with the leather trade persisted even as they moved away from their ancestral homeland.
As the name COBIO dispersed across Spain and its colonies, various spellings emerged, such as "Covio," "Cobeio," and "Cubio." These variations likely reflect regional dialects and the challenges of standardized spelling in earlier centuries.
One notable figure in COBIO history was Juan Cobio de Navarra, a Basque soldier who fought in the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century. Born in 1502, he served under Hernán Cortés and participated in the siege of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire.
Another prominent COBIO was María Cobio Martínez, a Spanish playwright and poet who lived in the 17th century. Born in Madrid in 1623, she gained recognition for her religious plays and verses, which reflected the literary traditions of the Spanish Golden Age.
In the 18th century, the COBIO surname appeared in records from the Spanish colonial territories in the Americas. For instance, a document from 1768 mentions a landowner named Sebastián Cobio in the city of Cartagena, present-day Colombia.
The 19th century saw the spread of the COBIO name to other parts of Europe and the Americas, as families migrated in search of new opportunities. One notable figure from this period was Ramón Cobio, a Cuban poet and journalist born in Havana in 1865. He published several collections of poetry and worked as a journalist for various publications in Cuba and the United States.
Throughout its history, the COBIO surname has maintained a strong connection to its Basque roots, while also adapting to new cultural and geographical contexts as families dispersed across the globe.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cobio
Among Census respondents with the surname Cobio, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Black (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Cobio bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Cobio surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.4% · 106
- Black or African American2.7% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Cobio
Cobio appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#149,446
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
+7 bearers (+6.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 7,788 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #149,446 | 110 | 0.04 | +7 bearers (+6.8%) | Up 7,788 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Cobio surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #157,234 | #149,446 | 5.0% |
| Count | 103 | 110 | 6.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 22.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Cobio bearers went from 103 to 110 (+6.8% change). The surname moved up 7,788 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #149,446.
FAQ
Cobio surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Cobio?
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the surname Cobio. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,720,273 residents.
How common is Cobio?
Cobio ranks #149,446 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 110 people with the surname Cobio. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (126), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Cobio.
Has Cobio become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Cobio went from 103 recorded bearers to 110. That is an increase of 7 (+6.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #149,446.
What does the Census say about the background of Cobio?
Among Census respondents with the surname Cobio, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Black (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Cobio in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Cobio appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (96.4%), Black (2.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Cobio (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Cobio mean?
A rare Spanish surname possibly derived from a place name or occupation. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Cobio (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Cobio?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.