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

Concha, 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 Concha surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Concha in America

Concha is the 15147th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Concha surname appeared 1,947 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Concha.

We can also compare 2010 data for Concha 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 Concha

The surname Concha originated in Spain, tracing its roots back to the medieval era. It is derived from the Spanish word "concha," meaning "shell." This name likely originated as a descriptive byname, referring to someone who lived near or worked with seashells, perhaps a seller of shells or someone involved in the shell trade.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Concha can be found in the 14th century. In 1372, a document from the town of Seville mentions a certain "Juan de la Concha," suggesting that the name was already in use by that time.

During the 15th century, the Concha family gained prominence in the Basque Country, particularly in the city of San Sebastián. Records from that period reveal several notable individuals bearing the surname, such as Martín de la Concha, a merchant and ship owner who lived in the late 1400s.

As the Spanish Empire expanded across the Americas, the Concha name traveled with the conquistadors and settlers. In the 16th century, Juan de la Concha, a Spanish explorer and navigator, accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expeditions to Mexico. He played a crucial role in the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Another figure of historical significance was Pedro de la Concha, a Spanish military officer who served as the Governor of Chile from 1629 to 1630. He was instrumental in suppressing the Mapuche uprisings during his tenure.

In the 18th century, José de la Concha y Torre, a Spanish naval officer and cartographer, gained recognition for his detailed maps of the coasts of South America. His work significantly contributed to the advancement of navigation and cartography during that period.

As the centuries passed, the Concha surname continued to spread across Spain and its former colonies. Notable individuals bearing this name include Alejandro Concha Castañeda, a Mexican politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the late 19th century, and José María Concha, a Chilean writer and journalist who founded several influential literary magazines in the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Concha

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!