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

Nova, 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 Nova surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nova in America

Nova is the 10886th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nova surname appeared 2,928 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 Nova.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nova 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 Nova

The surname Nova has its origins in Portugal and Spain, where it first emerged in the late medieval period. It is derived from the Latin word "nova," meaning "new." In the Iberian Peninsula, the surname was likely given to someone who had recently settled in a particular area or town.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Nova surname can be found in the "Libro de la Montería," a 14th-century hunting manuscript commissioned by King Alfonso XI of Castile. The manuscript mentions a individual named Ruy Nova, who was a landowner in the region of Extremadura.

In the 15th century, the Nova surname appeared in various Portuguese and Spanish records, including tax rolls and municipal documents. For example, a merchant named Fernão Nova is mentioned in a 1487 document from the city of Lisbon.

The surname Nova can also be traced back to place names in Portugal and Spain, such as Nova de Gaia, a city near Porto, and Nova Hesperia, an ancient name for the Iberian Peninsula. It is possible that some individuals adopted the surname Nova after migrating from these locations.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the Nova surname was João de Nova, a Portuguese explorer and navigator who lived in the early 16th century. He is known for leading an expedition to the Indian Ocean in 1501, during which he discovered the islands of Mauritius and Réunion.

Another prominent figure was Álvaro de Nova, a Spanish Renaissance scholar and humanist who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He was a respected professor at the University of Salamanca and wrote extensively on classical literature and philosophy.

In the 17th century, the Nova surname can be found in various parts of the Portuguese and Spanish empires, including Brazil and the Philippines. One example is Pedro Teixeira de Nova, a Portuguese explorer who led an expedition along the Amazon River in the 1630s and produced valuable maps of the region.

During the 18th century, the Nova surname gained prominence in the arts and literature. José Joaquim de Nova, a Portuguese poet and playwright, was a prominent figure in the Arcadian movement of the late 1700s.

In the 19th century, the Nova surname became more widely dispersed as individuals migrated to other parts of the world. One notable figure was Manuel Nova, a Cuban writer and political activist who played a significant role in the Cuban independence movement in the late 1800s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nova

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!