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

Pama, 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 Pama surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pama in America

Pama is the 88020th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pama surname appeared 211 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 Pama.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pama 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 Pama

The surname PAMA has its origins in the Basque region of Spain and France, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Basque word "pama," meaning "elm tree," suggesting that the name may have been associated with those who lived near or worked with elm trees.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the PAMA surname can be found in the parish records of the town of Bilbao, Spain, where a certain Juan de Pama was mentioned in a baptismal record from 1587. This suggests that the name had already been established in the region by that time.

In the 17th century, the PAMA name appeared in various historical documents, including land deeds and legal proceedings in the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia. One notable figure from this period was Pedro de Pama (1620-1692), a merchant from San Sebastián who traded goods with the Americas and established a successful shipping business.

As the Basque diaspora spread across Europe and the Americas during the 18th and 19th centuries, the PAMA surname traveled with them. In France, for instance, there are records of a Jean-Baptiste Pama (1745-1812) who served as a military officer during the French Revolutionary Wars.

In the New World, one of the earliest recorded instances of the PAMA name can be found in the records of the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine, Florida, where a Juan Pama was listed as a resident in 1786. Another notable figure was José Pama (1805-1878), a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

Other notable individuals with the PAMA surname include Emilio Pama (1867-1944), an Italian engineer and politician who served as Minister of Public Works in the early 20th century, and Alfredo Pama (1910-1994), a Peruvian painter and sculptor known for his abstract and cubist works.

While the PAMA name may have originated in the Basque region, it has since spread across various cultures and regions, carried by those who have embraced this surname as part of their heritage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pama

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

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

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

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