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

Orgovan, 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 Orgovan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Orgovan in America

Orgovan is the 116201st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Orgovan surname appeared 150 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 Orgovan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Orgovan 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 Orgovan

The surname Orgovan is believed to have originated in the region of Transylvania, which is now part of modern-day Romania. The name dates back to the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old Romanian word "orgovan," which referred to a type of flowering plant known as the lilac or syringa.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Orgovan name can be found in a document from the year 1389, which mentions a certain "Ioan Orgovan" as a landowner in the village of Sălișca, near the city of Sibiu. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the area by that time.

Another notable early reference to the Orgovan name appears in a 15th-century manuscript from the Transylvanian town of Brașov. This document, dated to around 1450, lists several individuals with the surname, including a "Petru Orgovan" who was a member of the local guild of merchants.

As the centuries passed, the Orgovan family seemed to have spread across various regions of Transylvania, as well as into neighboring areas such as Banat and Crișana. In the 16th century, there are records of an Orgovan family residing in the town of Deva, with one member, Mihai Orgovan, serving as a local magistrate in 1587.

One of the most prominent individuals to bear the Orgovan name was Vasile Orgovan, a Romanian priest and scholar who lived in the 18th century (1718-1789). He was known for his contributions to the study of Romanian language and literature, as well as for his efforts in promoting education among the Romanian population of Transylvania.

Another notable figure was Ioan Orgovan, a Romanian politician and lawyer who was born in 1858 in the village of Luncavița, near Timișoara. He served as a member of the Romanian Parliament and was active in the movement for Romanian national rights in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In the 19th century, the Orgovan surname also appeared in various regions of modern-day Ukraine, particularly in the area of Bukovina, which was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One example is Gheorghe Orgovan, a Romanian writer and journalist who was born in the town of Chernivtsi (then part of Bukovina) in 1875 and later became a prominent figure in the cultural life of the region.

Throughout its history, the Orgovan name has been associated with various locations and place names in Transylvania and surrounding areas, such as the towns of Orgova and Orgovănești, which may have derived their names from the same linguistic root as the surname itself.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Orgovan

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

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

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

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