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

Oso, 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 Oso surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oso in America

Oso is the 101737th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oso surname appeared 177 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 Oso.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oso 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 Oso

The surname OSO has its origins in Spain, where it first appeared in the 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "oso," meaning "bear." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who displayed bear-like characteristics or perhaps lived in an area inhabited by bears.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name OSO can be found in the Libro de la Montería, a 14th-century hunting treatise commissioned by King Alfonso XI of Castile. This document mentions a place called "Soto de los Osos" (Grove of the Bears), which could have been the birthplace of the first individuals to bear the surname.

The oldest known person to carry the OSO surname was Juan Oso, a nobleman from the town of Seville, who lived in the late 15th century. Records show that he was granted a coat of arms by King Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1492, which featured a rampant bear on a field of gules (red).

Another notable figure with the OSO surname was Hernán Oso, a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico in 1519. Oso played a crucial role in the conquest of the Aztec Empire and later became one of the first Spanish settlers in the region.

In the 17th century, a family of OSOs from the town of Burgos produced several distinguished members, including Pedro Oso y Velázquez (1612-1688), a renowned painter and member of the Baroque school of art in Spain.

During the 18th century, a branch of the OSO family migrated to the Spanish colonies in the Americas, where they established themselves in various parts of the Caribbean and South America. One notable descendant was Tomás Oso (1745-1821), a Venezuelan military leader who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spanish rule.

Throughout the centuries, the OSO surname has also been found in various parts of Europe, including Italy, France, and Portugal, likely due to migration and intermarriage with Spanish families. However, its origins can be firmly traced back to the Iberian Peninsula and the early use of the name in medieval Spain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oso

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

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

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

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