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

Colunga, 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 Colunga surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Colunga in America

Colunga is the 7232nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Colunga surname appeared 4,616 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 Colunga.

We can also compare 2010 data for Colunga 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 Colunga

The surname Colunga originated in Spain, likely in the northern region of Asturias or Cantabria, during the early medieval period. The name is thought to derive from the Latin word "colungia," which referred to a specific type of farmland or agricultural settlement.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Cartulario de Covarrubias, a medieval document from the 10th century, which mentions a individual named "Colungo" who owned land in the area. This suggests that the surname may have evolved from a nickname or a place name associated with these early agricultural settlements.

In the 12th century, the surname appears in various records from the region, including the Becerro de las Behetrías, a register of landowners and their properties. One notable mention is of a certain Rodrigo Colunga, who held lands in the village of Colunga, located in the present-day municipality of Caravia, Asturias.

The name Colunga is also linked to several place names in northern Spain, such as the town of Colunga in Asturias, which may have been named after an early settler or landowner bearing the surname. Other variations of the name, like Colungo or Colongo, can be found in historical documents from the region.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the Colunga surname. One of the earliest was Juan de Colunga, a 15th-century Spanish explorer who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493.

In the 16th century, Pedro de Colunga was a prominent Spanish architect and stonemason who worked on the construction of several churches and monasteries in Asturias and Cantabria.

During the 17th century, Diego de Colunga was a Spanish military officer who served in the Spanish Army and participated in various campaigns against the Dutch and Portuguese in the Low Countries and Brazil.

In the 19th century, José María Colunga y Vierna was a Spanish lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Spanish Parliament and was a vocal supporter of the liberal movements of his time.

More recently, in the 20th century, Álvaro Colunga was a Mexican actor and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1940s to the 1970s, becoming a iconic figure in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Colunga

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

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

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

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