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

Minchaca, 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 Minchaca surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Minchaca in America

Minchaca is the 133863rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Minchaca surname appeared 126 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 Minchaca.

The history of the last name Minchaca

The surname Minchaca has its origins in the Basque region of Spain and France, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Basque word "mintxo," which means "dwarf" or "small person," combined with the suffix "-aca," a common Basque surname ending.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the parish records of the village of Itziar, located in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain, where a certain Juan de Minchaca was mentioned in 1587. The name was also present in the nearby town of Oñati, where a family bearing the surname Minchaca owned a farmstead in the 17th century.

In the 18th century, the name appeared in various historical documents related to the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia. For instance, a Juan Bautista Minchaca was listed as a resident of the town of Bermeo in the 1740s. Additionally, a certain Pedro Minchaca was a prominent landowner in the village of Elgoibar in the late 1700s.

As the Basque people migrated to other regions, the name Minchaca spread beyond its original homeland. One notable example is Domingo Minchaca, a Chilean businessman and politician born in 1833, who played a significant role in the development of the mining industry in his country.

Another individual of note is Manuel Minchaca, a Mexican military officer who fought in the Mexican-American War in the 1840s and later served as a general during the French Intervention in Mexico in the 1860s.

In the United States, the name Minchaca can be traced back to the late 19th century, when Basque immigrants settled in areas like Idaho and Nevada, bringing their unique surnames with them. One such individual was Pedro Minchaca, a Basque shepherd who lived in Elko County, Nevada, in the late 1800s.

While the surname Minchaca may have evolved and taken on different spellings over time, its origins can be firmly rooted in the Basque culture and language, reflecting the rich history and diversity of this ancient region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Minchaca

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

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 Minchaca 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.

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

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

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