2010
#147,253
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Pedra
A surname derived from the Portuguese word "pedra" meaning "stone" or "rock".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Pedra. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pedra surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Pedra in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pedra, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pedra
The surname PEDRA has its origins in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in Portugal and Spain, where it emerged during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word "pedra," meaning "stone" or "rock." This suggests that the name may have initially been given as a descriptive surname to someone who lived near a prominent rock formation or worked as a stonemason.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname PEDRA can be found in the "Livro de Linhagens" (Book of Lineages), a 14th-century Portuguese manuscript that chronicles the genealogies of noble families. This document mentions individuals with the surname PEDRA, indicating that it was already in use by that time.
In the 15th century, a notable figure bearing the surname PEDRA was Álvaro Pedra, a Portuguese explorer and navigator who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his historic voyage to India in 1498. Álvaro Pedra played a crucial role in navigating the treacherous waters and establishing trade routes for the Portuguese Empire.
During the 16th century, the PEDRA surname spread beyond the Iberian Peninsula as Portuguese and Spanish explorers, settlers, and colonists ventured to various parts of the world. One such individual was Juan Pedra, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the early 1500s.
In the 17th century, the PEDRA surname can be found in historical records from Brazil, where many Portuguese settlers established themselves. One notable Brazilian with this surname was Pedro Antônio Pedra, a prominent landowner and sugar plantation owner in the state of Pernambuco, who lived from 1650 to 1718.
The 18th century witnessed the rise of a notable PEDRA family in Spain, with the birth of José Manuel Pedra y Guzmán (1725-1801), a renowned military leader and strategist who played a crucial role in the Spanish campaigns against the Napoleonic forces during the Peninsular War.
Throughout its long history, the surname PEDRA has been associated with various place names and locations, such as Pedralva in Portugal and Pedraza in Spain, which may have influenced the formation of the surname or served as places of origin for some PEDRA families.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pedra
Among Census respondents with the surname Pedra, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Pedra bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Pedra surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.2% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino29.8% · 31
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pedra
Pedra appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
-8 bearers (-7.1%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 6,337 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #147,253 | 112 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | -8 bearers (-7.1%) | Down 6,337 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Pedra surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #147,253 | #153,590 | -4.3% |
| Count | 112 | 104 | -7.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pedra bearers went from 112 to 104 (-7.1% change). The surname moved down 6,337 positions in the national ranking, going from #147,253 to #153,590.
FAQ
Pedra surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pedra?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Pedra. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Pedra?
Pedra ranks #153,590 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 104 people with the surname Pedra. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Pedra.
Has Pedra become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pedra went from 112 recorded bearers to 104. That is a decrease of 8 (-7.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #147,253 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Pedra?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pedra, the largest self-reported group is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Pedra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.2% (73 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pedra appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (70.2%), Hispanic (29.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Pedra (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Pedra mean?
A surname derived from the Portuguese word "pedra" meaning "stone" or "rock". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Pedra (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Pedra?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.