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

Proa, 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 Proa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Proa in America

Proa is the 41038th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Proa surname appeared 531 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 Proa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Proa 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 Proa

The surname Proa is believed to have originated in Italy during the medieval period. It is thought to have derived from the Latin word "prora," which means "prow" or the forward-most part of a ship. This suggests that the name may have initially been associated with individuals who worked as sailors, shipbuilders, or lived in coastal regions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Proa can be found in the Codice Diplomatico Longobardo, a collection of documents dating back to the 8th century. In this manuscript, a certain "Proarius" is mentioned as a witness to a land transfer in the region of Lombardy.

During the 12th century, a nobleman named Guglielmo Proa is documented as having participated in the Third Crusade, led by Richard the Lionheart. Guglielmo Proa is believed to have hailed from the city of Genoa, a major maritime center at the time.

In the 14th century, the name appears in the Florentine Catasto, a tax record kept by the Florentine Republic. This document mentions a family named Proa residing in the city of Florence, suggesting that the name had spread beyond its coastal origins.

A notable figure bearing the Proa surname was Giovanni Battista Proa, a Renaissance painter born in Genoa in 1497. His works, which included religious scenes and portraits, can still be found in various churches and museums throughout Italy.

Another individual of note was Francesco Proa, a Venetian merchant and explorer who is credited with being one of the first Europeans to establish trade relations with the Sultanate of Aceh in modern-day Indonesia. He lived during the late 16th century and is mentioned in several travel logs and historical accounts from that period.

Throughout the centuries, variations of the name Proa have appeared, such as Prova, Proaga, and Proazza. These spellings likely emerged as the name spread to different regions and was influenced by local dialects and pronunciation patterns.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Proa

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

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

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

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