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

Pineira, 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 Pineira surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pineira in America

Pineira is the 129047th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pineira surname appeared 132 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 Pineira.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pineira 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 Pineira

The surname Pineira is of Spanish origin, specifically from the region of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It dates back to the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century. The name is derived from the Galician words "pino" meaning pine tree and "eira" meaning a threshing floor or open area for drying crops. This suggests that the name likely originated from a topographic feature or a place name referring to an area with pine trees and threshing floors.

Pineira is a locational surname, meaning it was originally given to someone who lived near or was associated with a particular place called Pineira. In medieval times, it was common for people to adopt surnames based on their place of origin or residence. The earliest known record of the surname Pineira can be found in the "Tumbo de Sobrado," a medieval cartulary from the Monastery of Sobrado in Galicia, which dates back to the 12th century.

One notable figure with the surname Pineira was Fray Benito de la Pineira, a Spanish Franciscan friar who lived in the late 16th century. He was a respected theologian and author of several religious texts. Another individual worth mentioning is Juan de Pineira, a Galician nobleman and military leader who fought in the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors, in the 13th century.

In the 17th century, there was a prominent family named Pineira in the town of Betanzos, Galicia. One member, Andrés de Pineira, was a wealthy merchant and landowner who played a significant role in the local community. Centuries later, in the 19th century, José María Pineira y Montes was a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as a deputy in the Spanish Parliament.

Lastly, it is worth noting that there are variations in the spelling of the surname, such as Pinheira, Piñeira, and Piñero, which are also found in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions. The name has also been associated with certain place names in Galicia, such as the municipalities of Pineira and Piñeiro, further reinforcing its locational origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pineira

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

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

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

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