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

Penilla, 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 Penilla surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Penilla in America

Penilla is the 50467th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Penilla surname appeared 414 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 Penilla.

We can also compare 2010 data for Penilla 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 Penilla

The surname Penilla is of Spanish origin, originating from the region of Cantabria in northern Spain. The name likely dates back to the 11th or 12th century during the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from Moorish rule.

Penilla is derived from the Latin word "paenicula," which means "small cape" or "little peninsula." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived on a small peninsula or promontory, or perhaps near a coastal area with a distinctive landform resembling a cape.

The earliest recorded instances of the Penilla surname can be found in medieval Spanish documents and records from the 13th and 14th centuries. One notable example is Juan de Penilla, a nobleman from Cantabria who fought alongside King Alfonso XI of Castile in the Battle of Río Salado against the Moors in 1340.

In the 16th century, during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, several individuals with the Penilla surname made their mark in the New World. One such person was Diego de Penilla, a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the 1520s.

Another notable figure was María de Penilla, a Spanish settler who arrived in the Philippines in the late 16th century and played a significant role in the establishment of the Spanish colony in the archipelago.

In the 17th century, the Penilla surname appeared in various regions of Spain, including Andalusia and Castile. One prominent individual from this time was Bartolomé de Penilla, a Spanish poet and playwright who was active in Madrid during the reign of King Philip IV.

During the 18th century, the Penilla surname continued to spread across the Spanish-speaking world. Juan Antonio de Penilla was a renowned architect from Mexico City who designed several notable buildings, including the Church of San Felipe Neri, completed in 1787.

As the centuries passed, the Penilla surname also made its way to other parts of Europe and the Americas, carried by Spanish immigrants and settlers. Today, the name can be found in various Spanish-speaking countries, as well as in regions with significant Spanish heritage, such as the southwestern United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Penilla

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

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

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

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