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

Decena, 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 Decena surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Decena in America

Decena is the 31360th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Decena surname appeared 739 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 Decena.

We can also compare 2010 data for Decena 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 Decena

The surname DECENA has its origins in Spain and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Spanish word "decena," which means "group of ten." This suggests that the name may have originated from someone who was in charge of a group or unit of ten people, possibly in a military or administrative role.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the DECENA surname can be found in the Partidas, a legal code compiled during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile in the 13th century. This document mentions a certain Juan Decena, who was a landowner in the region of Andalusia.

During the 15th century, the name appeared in various records and documents in the Iberian Peninsula. For instance, a Rodrigo Decena was listed as a merchant in the city of Seville in 1462, while a Pedro Decena was mentioned as a farmer in the town of Córdoba in 1487.

As the Spanish Empire expanded across the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries, the DECENA surname spread to the New World. One notable figure was Juan Decena, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the early 1500s.

In the 18th century, a prominent member of the DECENA family was María Decena, a landowner and philanthropist in the city of Havana, Cuba. She was known for her charitable works and for founding a hospital for the poor in 1784.

Another noteworthy individual was Domingo Decena, a Spanish military officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars against the French invaders in the early 19th century. He was awarded the Cross of Military Merit for his bravery in battle.

As the centuries passed, the DECENA surname spread to various parts of the Spanish-speaking world, including Latin America and the Philippines, which was a Spanish colony for several centuries. While the name has evolved and taken on different spellings over time, its origins can be traced back to the Iberian Peninsula and the medieval era.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Decena

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

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

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

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