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

Perea, 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 Perea surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Perea in America

Perea is the 3124th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Perea surname appeared 11,546 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Perea.

We can also compare 2010 data for Perea 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 Perea

The surname Perea has its origins in Spain, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the medieval period. The name is derived from the Spanish word "pera," which means "pear," suggesting that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a pear orchard or was associated with the cultivation or trade of pears.

One of the earliest references to the Perea name can be found in the Becerro de Behetrías, a medieval census document from the 14th century that recorded landowners and their properties in Castile. This document mentions individuals with the surname Perea living in various regions of northern Spain, such as Burgos, Palencia, and Valladolid.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Perea name appeared in various historical records and manuscripts across Spain. For instance, Diego de Perea, a Spanish conquistador born around 1480, participated in the conquest of Mexico under Hernán Cortés and later became one of the founders of the city of Puebla de los Ángeles in 1531.

Another notable figure was Fray Antonio de Perea, a Franciscan friar and missionary born in Extremadura, Spain, around 1569. He played a significant role in the evangelization efforts among the Pueblo Native Americans in present-day New Mexico and established several missions in the region during the early 17th century.

The Perea surname also spread to various parts of the Spanish empire, including the Americas. One example is Juan Perea, a Spanish settler born in 1583, who became one of the first European inhabitants of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the early 17th century. His descendants went on to establish the Perea family as a prominent lineage in the region.

In the 18th century, José Perea y Quintanilla, a Spanish military officer and governor of Sonora y Sinaloa, was born in Badajoz, Spain, in 1710. He played a crucial role in the defense of the northwestern territories of New Spain against indigenous uprisings and foreign incursions.

As the Spanish empire expanded, the Perea name could be found in various parts of the world, including the Philippines, where individuals like José Perea Villanueva, a colonial administrator born in 1786, held important positions during the Spanish colonial period.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Perea

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

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

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

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