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

Galyean, 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 Galyean surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Galyean in America

Galyean is the 19731st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Galyean surname appeared 1,365 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 Galyean.

We can also compare 2010 data for Galyean 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 Galyean

The surname GALYEAN has its origins in the Basque region of northern Spain and southern France, dating back to the 8th or 9th century CE. It is believed to be derived from the Basque word "gali," meaning "rooster," and may have originally referred to a person who raised or traded in roosters or chickens.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in a 12th-century manuscript from the Basque Country, where a person named Galiano de Galyean is mentioned as a landowner. The name also appears in various forms, such as Galyano, Galiano, and Galianu, in medieval records from the region.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name spread to other parts of Spain and France, with variations in spelling emerging, such as Galyean, Galyan, and Galien. It is likely that some bearers of the name were involved in the poultry trade or were known for their association with roosters.

In the 15th century, a notable bearer of the name was Juan Galyean, a Spanish explorer who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. Another notable figure was Pedro Galyean, a 16th-century Spanish playwright and poet from Seville.

In the 17th century, the name appears in records from the Basque region of France, with a family of merchants and landowners named Galyean residing in the town of Bayonne. One member of this family, Jean-Baptiste Galyean (1645-1721), was a prominent figure in the local government.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the name spread to other parts of Europe and the Americas, likely due to immigration and migration. One notable bearer of the name was Francisco Galyean (1786-1854), a Spanish-born military officer who fought in the Mexican War of Independence and later became a general in the Mexican Army.

Another notable figure was Margarita Galyean (1822-1895), a Mexican-American educator and activist who founded several schools in California and worked to promote education and literacy among the Hispanic community.

By the 20th century, the name had become well-established in various parts of the world, with notable bearers including Javier Galyean (1912-1988), a Mexican artist known for his murals and paintings, and Alicia Galyean (1920-2003), a Peruvian writer and poet who won several literary awards.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Galyean

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

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

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

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