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

Lucena, 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 Lucena surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lucena in America

Lucena is the 20183rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lucena surname appeared 1,321 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 Lucena.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lucena 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 Lucena

The surname Lucena is of Spanish origin, originating in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It is believed to be derived from the town of Lucena, located in the province of Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain. The town's name itself is thought to stem from the Latin word "lucus," meaning a sacred grove or wood.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Lucena surname can be found in the "Libro de la Montería" (Book of the Hunt), a 14th-century manuscript commissioned by King Alfonso XI of Castile, which mentions a Juan Martínez de Lucena. This suggests that the surname was already in use by the 14th century and may have originated even earlier.

During the 15th century, the Lucena surname gained prominence with the birth of Juan de Lucena (c. 1430-1506), a Spanish humanist writer and diplomat who served as the ambassador of Castile to the Papal Curia in Rome. He was known for his works such as "Vida beata" (The Blessed Life) and "Epistolario" (Letters).

Another notable figure bearing the Lucena surname was Luis de Lucena (c. 1550-1623), a Spanish poet and dramatist from Seville. He was renowned for his contributions to the Spanish Golden Age of literature, particularly his religious plays and poems.

In the 19th century, Manuel Lucena y Salmoral (1809-1900) was a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as the Minister of Justice and later as the President of the Supreme Court of Spain.

Moving into the 20th century, Rafael Lucena (1919-2003) was a Spanish professional tennis player who achieved notable success, winning several Grand Slam titles in the 1930s and 1940s. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984.

Throughout its history, the Lucena surname has also been associated with various places and regions, such as the town of Lucena in Spain, as well as the city of Lucena in the Philippines, which was named after the Spanish town and likely influenced by the surname's presence in the region during Spanish colonization.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lucena

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

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

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

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