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

Cuevas, 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 Cuevas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cuevas in America

Cuevas is the 790th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cuevas surname appeared 43,701 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 15 people would have the surname Cuevas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cuevas 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 Cuevas

The surname Cuevas is of Spanish origin and derives from the Spanish word "cueva," meaning "cave." It first emerged in the medieval period in Spain, likely referring to someone who lived near or in a cave or worked as a miner.

The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 13th century. One notable early bearer was Pedro de Cuevas, a Spanish military leader who served under King Ferdinand III of Castile during the Reconquista in the mid-13th century.

In the 15th century, the name appears in records from the region of Andalusia, where many families bearing the name Cuevas resided. One such individual was Juan de Cuevas, a wealthy landowner and merchant who lived in Seville in the late 1400s.

As the Spanish Empire expanded into the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries, many individuals with the surname Cuevas traveled to and settled in the New World. One notable example is Alonso de Cuevas Davalos, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Guatemala in the 1520s.

In the 18th century, the name was well-established in Mexico, with several prominent families bearing the Cuevas surname. One notable individual was José María Cuevas, a Mexican painter and engraver who lived from 1778 to 1846 and is considered a pioneer of Mexican printmaking.

Another notable bearer of the name was Mariano Cuevas, a Mexican historian and priest who lived from 1879 to 1949 and wrote extensively on the history of the Catholic Church in Mexico.

Over the centuries, the Cuevas surname has also been found in other Spanish-speaking countries and regions, including parts of Central and South America, as well as in the Philippines, where Spanish settlers and missionaries brought the name during the colonial period.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cuevas

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

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

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

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