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

Mascareño, 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 Mascareño surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mascareño in America

Mascareño is the 54637th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mascareño surname appeared 377 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 Mascareño.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mascareño 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 Mascareño

The surname Mascareno has its origins in the Portuguese language and is derived from the word "mascara," which means "mask" or "disguise." This name likely originated in the 15th or 16th century during the Age of Exploration when Portuguese navigators and settlers were venturing to new lands.

The earliest recorded instances of the Mascareno surname can be traced back to the Portuguese colony of Madeira, an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is believed that the name was initially given to individuals who either manufactured or sold masks, or perhaps even those who wore masks for theatrical performances or other purposes.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Mascareno name was João Mascareno, a Portuguese navigator who was born in the late 15th century. He played a significant role in the exploration and settlement of the Madeira Islands, and his name appears in several historical documents from that era.

As the Portuguese empire expanded, the Mascareno name spread to other Portuguese colonies, including the Azores Islands and Brazil. In the 17th century, a notable figure named António Mascareno served as the governor of the Portuguese colony of Pernambuco in Brazil from 1637 to 1641.

Another prominent individual with the Mascareno surname was José Mascareno, a Spanish military engineer who was born in 1688 in Cartagena, Spain. He was responsible for designing and overseeing the construction of several fortifications and defense systems in the Spanish colonies of the Americas, including the famous Fort San Cristóbal in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In the 19th century, a Portuguese nobleman named Tomás Mascareno gained recognition for his contributions to the field of horticulture. He was born in 1802 in Lisbon and is credited with introducing numerous exotic plant species to Portugal from various parts of the world.

While the Mascareno surname is relatively uncommon today, it continues to be found among individuals of Portuguese descent, particularly in regions with historical ties to the Portuguese empire, such as Brazil, Madeira, and the Azores.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mascareño

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

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

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

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