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

Henao, 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 Henao surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Henao in America

Henao is the 12696th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Henao surname appeared 2,431 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 Henao.

We can also compare 2010 data for Henao 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 Henao

The surname Henao is of Spanish origin and is thought to have emerged in the 15th century. It is believed to be derived from the place name Heno, which is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. The name Heno itself is thought to have evolved from the Latin word "faenum," meaning hay or fodder.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Henao can be found in the Spanish Inquisition records from the late 15th century. During this time, a certain Juan Henao was mentioned as a resident of the town of Heno. It is likely that the surname was originally used to identify individuals who hailed from this particular town or region.

In the 16th century, the surname Henao began to appear in other historical documents across Spain. For instance, the renowned Spanish poet and playwright, Lope de Vega (1562-1635), made references to individuals with the surname Henao in some of his literary works.

As the centuries passed, the Henao surname continued to spread across Spain and eventually made its way to the Americas during the Spanish colonization period. One notable individual with this surname was Diego Henao (1522-1597), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru alongside Francisco Pizarro.

In the 18th century, a prominent figure bearing the Henao surname was Juan Manuel Henao (1715-1789), a Spanish priest and scholar who served as the Bishop of Valladolid. He was known for his extensive writings on theology and philosophy.

Another historically significant individual with the surname Henao was Juana Henao (1805-1881), a Colombian author and poet who played a crucial role in the country's literary scene during the 19th century. Her works were influential in shaping the cultural identity of Colombia during that era.

As for place names associated with the Henao surname, there is a small village called Henao located in the municipality of Ampuero, in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. It is believed that this village may have been named after individuals with the Henao surname who resided there in the past.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Henao

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

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

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

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