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

Portuondo, 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 Portuondo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Portuondo in America

Portuondo is the 41579th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Portuondo surname appeared 523 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 Portuondo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Portuondo 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 Portuondo

The surname Portuondo is of Spanish origin, tracing its roots back to the regions of Asturias and Cantabria in northern Spain during the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Asturian and Cantabrian dialectal words "portu" or "puerto," meaning "harbor" or "port," and "onde," meaning "wave" or "surge." This suggests that the name may have originated from individuals who lived near or worked in coastal areas or ports.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Portuondo surname can be found in the "Becerro de las Behetrías de Castilla," a historical document from the 14th century that catalogued towns and villages in the Kingdom of Castile. This document mentions the village of Portuondo in the region of Liébana, Cantabria, indicating that the surname may have originated from this specific location.

The Portuondo name also appears in several historical records from the 16th and 17th centuries, such as parish registers and municipal documents from various towns in Asturias and Cantabria. Notable individuals bearing this surname include Juan Portuondo (1541-1612), a Spanish soldier and explorer who accompanied Juan de Oñate on expeditions to the American Southwest, and Gaspar Portuondo y Barceló (1759-1848), a Spanish military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Portuondo surname spread to other parts of Spain and Latin America, particularly Cuba, where several prominent figures emerged. One such individual was Antonio Portuondo y Barceló (1824-1891), a Cuban lawyer, politician, and professor who played a significant role in the island's independence movement. Another notable figure was José Antonio Portuondo y Barceló (1848-1918), a Cuban lawyer, writer, and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Cuba.

Other noteworthy individuals with the Portuondo surname include Olga Portuondo Zúñiga (1920-2022), a Cuban singer and musician who was a member of the renowned Buena Vista Social Club, and José Antonio Portuondo Valdor (1895-1971), a Cuban philosopher, essayist, and university professor who made significant contributions to the study of Latin American thought.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Portuondo

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

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

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

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