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

O'Banion, 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 O'Banion surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of O'Banion in America

O'Banion is the 15340th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The O'Banion surname appeared 1,912 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 O'Banion.

We can also compare 2010 data for O'Banion 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 O'Banion

The surname OBANION has its origins in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France. It is believed to have derived from the Basque word 'obaino', which means 'valley' or 'ravine'. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived in or near a valley or ravine.

The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 16th century in the Basque provinces of Spain. One of the earliest known records of the name is found in the baptismal records of the Church of San Sebastian in the town of Oiartzun, where a child named Juan Obanion was baptized in 1578.

In the 17th century, the name appears in various Spanish and French documents, often with variations in spelling such as Obañon, Obanon, and Obannon. This was likely due to the challenges of transcribing the name from its Basque origins into Spanish and French.

One notable individual with the surname OBANION was Pedro Obanion, a Spanish soldier who fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). He is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time for his bravery in battle.

In the 18th century, the name began to spread beyond the Basque region as families migrated to other parts of Spain and France. One such individual was Juan Obanion (1723-1802), a wine merchant from the Basque town of Hernani who later settled in Bordeaux, France.

As the name continued to spread, it also found its way to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. In the 19th century, there are records of an OBANION family from Ireland, suggesting that the name may have been adopted or adapted by Irish immigrants.

One of the most notable individuals with the surname OBANION was John Obanion (1823-1895), an American outlaw and gunfighter who was active in the American Old West. He was involved in several high-profile incidents, including the murder of a U.S. Marshal, and was eventually killed in a gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona.

Other notable OBANIONS throughout history include Margarita Obanion (1892-1972), a Spanish artist known for her landscape paintings, and Frank Obanion (1914-1998), an American baseball player who played for the Detroit Tigers in the 1940s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name O'Banion

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname O'Banion.

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 O'Banion 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 O'Banion 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 O'Banion was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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