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

Gorbea, 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 Gorbea surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gorbea in America

Gorbea is the 74141st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gorbea surname appeared 261 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 Gorbea.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gorbea 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 Gorbea

The surname Gorbea originated in the Basque Country, which spans parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque names often derive from Basque vocabulary words or geographic locations within the Basque region. The name Gorbea likely comes from the Gorbea mountain range in the Basque province of Bizkaia.

Records of the name Gorbea can be traced back to the 11th century in documents from the region. In the Middle Ages, many Basque surnames adopted the prefix "de" to indicate one's place of origin, so early spellings like "de Gorbea" or "Degorbea" were common.

One of the earliest known individuals with the Gorbea surname was Sancho de Gorbea, a nobleman from Bizkaia who lived in the late 12th century. Another notable figure was Juan de Gorbea, a 15th-century clergyman who served as Bishop of Calahorra.

In the 16th century, the explorer Juan de Gorbea accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico and participated in the conquest of the Aztec Empire. A century later, Miguel de Gorbea y Quintanilla was a Spanish military officer who fought in the Thirty Years' War.

Moving into the 18th century, José Ignacio de Gorbea y Vadillo was a prominent architect who designed several churches and public buildings in Madrid. His son, Manuel de Gorbea y Vazquez, became a respected painter known for his religious artwork.

While the Gorbea surname has its roots in the Basque Country, it has since spread to other parts of Spain, as well as Latin American countries like Mexico and Argentina due to Spanish colonization and migration over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gorbea

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

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

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

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