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

Madera, 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 Madera surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Madera in America

Madera is the 3705th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Madera surname appeared 9,583 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Madera.

We can also compare 2010 data for Madera 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 Madera

The surname Madera originates from Spain and Portugal, derived from the Spanish and Portuguese word "madera," meaning "wood" or "timber." It is believed to have emerged as a surname in the 12th century, during the Reconquista period, when many Sephardic Jews and Muslims were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula.

Some historians suggest that the name may have been adopted by individuals who worked in the timber industry, such as lumberjacks, carpenters, or woodworkers. Others believe it could have been a topographic surname, given to people who lived near a wooded area or a place named after trees or timber.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Madera surname can be found in the "Repartimiento de Sevilla," a document from the 13th century that recorded the distribution of land and properties in the city of Seville after its reconquest by the Christians in 1248. The document mentions several individuals with the surname Madera, suggesting its establishment as a family name by that time.

In the 15th century, a notable figure with the surname Madera was Juan de Madera, a Spanish navigator and explorer who participated in the early voyages to the Americas. He was part of Christopher Columbus's second expedition to the West Indies in 1493 and is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to set foot on the island of Puerto Rico.

During the 16th century, the Madera surname gained prominence in Portugal, particularly in the Madeira Islands, an archipelago located off the northwest coast of Africa. It is likely that some Portuguese families with the surname Madera settled on these islands, which were named after the Portuguese word for wood ("madeira") due to the abundance of laurel forests covering the main island.

Another notable individual with the Madera surname was Juan de Madera y Vivero, a Spanish military engineer and architect who lived in the 17th century. He was responsible for designing and constructing several important fortifications and buildings in Spain and its colonies, including the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida, which is considered one of the best-preserved examples of Spanish colonial architecture in the United States.

In the 18th century, Francisco Javier de Madera y Montemayor, a Spanish nobleman and military officer, served as the Governor of Spanish Florida from 1779 to 1783. During his tenure, he oversaw the construction of various defensive works and played a crucial role in the defense of Spanish territories against British forces during the American Revolutionary War.

Throughout history, the Madera surname has been found in various regions of Spain, Portugal, and their former colonies, reflecting the spread of this name across different parts of the world through migration and exploration.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Madera

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

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

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

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