Nuño last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Nuño

A Portuguese and Galician surname derived from the medieval personal name Nuno, of uncertain origin and meaning.

Nuño, 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 Nuño surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nuño in America

Nuño is the 5348th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nuño surname appeared 6,506 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Nuño.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nuño 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 5348 6428 -18.34%
Count 6,506 4,878 28.60%
Proportion per 100k 2.21 1.81 19.90%

The history of the last name Nuño

The surname NUNO originated in Portugal, and it is derived from the medieval Portuguese given name "Nuno," which is thought to be a shortened form of the Latin name "Numenius" or "Nonnius." The name's roots can be traced back to the 9th century, and it was particularly prevalent in the northern regions of Portugal.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname NUNO can be found in the "Livro Velho de Linhagens" (Old Book of Lineages), a manuscript dating back to the 13th century, which documents the genealogy of Portuguese noble families. This document mentions several individuals bearing the surname NUNO.

In the 14th century, the name appears in the "Livro das Lezírias," an important administrative record from the reign of King Afonso IV of Portugal. This document lists a certain Nuno Fernandes NUNO as a landowner in the region of Santarém.

During the 15th century, the NUNO surname gained prominence with the rise of the influential Portuguese explorer and navigator, Nuno Tristão. Born around 1440, Nuno Tristão NUNO played a crucial role in the early Portuguese explorations along the West African coast. He is credited with the discovery of several islands, including the Cape Verde Islands in 1462.

Another notable figure with the NUNO surname was Nuno Álvares Pereira, a Portuguese nobleman and military leader who lived from 1360 to 1431. Nuno Álvares Pereira NUNO played a pivotal role in the 1383–1385 Crisis, a period of civil war in Portugal, and was instrumental in securing the throne for King John I.

In the 16th century, the NUNO surname appears in the historical records of the Portuguese colonization of Brazil. One such example is Nuno Velho Pereira, a Portuguese explorer and colonist who established the first permanent settlement in the captaincy of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil, around 1535.

Throughout the centuries, the NUNO surname has also been associated with various place names in Portugal, such as Nuno-Gómez and Nuno-Marques, reflecting the influence and landholdings of families bearing this surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nuño

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

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 Nuño was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 4.26% 277
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.65% 42
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.38% 25
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.18% 12
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.18% 12
Hispanic Origin 94.34% 6,138

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 Nuño has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 4.26% 5.13% -18.53%
Black 0.65% 0.43% 40.74%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.38% 0.72% -61.82%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.18% 0.27% -40.00%
Two or More Races 0.18% 0.45% -85.71%
Hispanic 94.34% 93.01% 1.42%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Nuño last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/nuno-surname-popularity/.

"Nuño last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/nuno-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 October, 2024

Nuño last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/nuno-surname-popularity/.

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