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

Opela, 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 Opela surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Opela in America

Opela is the 89403rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Opela surname appeared 207 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 Opela.

We can also compare 2010 data for Opela 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 Opela

The surname OPELA is believed to have originated in the area that is now modern-day Ukraine, likely in the 16th or 17th century. It is thought to be derived from the Ukrainian word "opil," which means "burn" or "fire," potentially referring to an occupation or a physical characteristic of an early bearer of the name.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a church register from the village of Opilche, located in the Volyn region of Ukraine, dating back to the late 17th century. The village name itself may be related to the surname, suggesting a possible connection to the area.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, OPELA appears in various records from the Russian Empire, which controlled parts of Ukraine at the time. This includes census documents and military records, indicating the spread of the name across the region.

In the early 20th century, a notable figure named Petro OPELA (1878-1952) was a Ukrainian politician and writer who played a role in the struggle for Ukrainian independence during the turbulent period following the Russian Revolution.

As immigration from Eastern Europe to other parts of the world increased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the surname OPELA began to appear in records in countries like the United States and Canada. One notable individual was Michael OPELA (1902-1987), a Ukrainian-American artist and sculptor who worked in New York City.

Another individual of note was Oleksandr OPELA (1920-2005), a Ukrainian-Canadian writer and journalist who published several books and worked for various Ukrainian-language publications in Canada after immigrating in the late 1940s.

In more recent times, Ivan OPELA (born 1938) is a Ukrainian-American sculptor and artist whose works have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and Europe.

It is worth noting that variations in spelling, such as OPILA or OPILKA, may also exist due to differences in transliteration from the Cyrillic alphabet or regional variations in pronunciation.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Opela

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

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

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

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