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

Purisima, 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 Purisima surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Purisima in America

Purisima is the 128249th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Purisima surname appeared 133 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 Purisima.

We can also compare 2010 data for Purisima 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 Purisima

The surname PURISIMA originated in Spain during the late medieval period, likely derived from the Spanish phrase "la Purísima," which translates to "the Most Pure." This phrase was commonly used to refer to the Virgin Mary and her immaculate conception. As such, the name may have been initially adopted by families with a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary or those living near churches or monasteries dedicated to her.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname PURISIMA can be found in the archives of the Cathedral of Seville, where a certain Juan de la Purisima is mentioned as a canon in the late 15th century. Another early reference comes from the parish records of the town of Écija, in the province of Seville, where a family with the surname PURISIMA is documented in the mid-16th century.

During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the surname PURISIMA was carried by some of the earliest settlers and explorers to the New World. In Mexico, for example, there is a record of a Hernán PURISIMA who served as a soldier in the conquest of Tenochtitlan in the early 16th century. Similarly, in Peru, a Franciscan friar named Fray Diego PURISIMA is known to have established several missions among the indigenous populations in the late 16th century.

Throughout the centuries, the PURISIMA surname has been associated with various notable individuals, such as the Spanish painter Juan PURISIMA (1597-1670), whose works adorned churches and monasteries in Seville and Cordoba. In the 18th century, the Mexican-born writer and philosopher José Antonio PURISIMA (1723-1787) gained recognition for his treatises on logic and metaphysics.

Another notable bearer of the PURISIMA name was María PURISIMA (1789-1849), a Cuban revolutionary who played a crucial role in the struggle for independence from Spanish rule. She is remembered for her courage and determination in supporting the rebel forces during the Cuban Insurrection of the 1840s.

In the realm of music, the Spanish composer and conductor Jesús PURISIMA (1867-1932) made significant contributions to the development of zarzuela, a traditional Spanish operetta genre. His works, such as "La verbena de la Paloma," are considered classics of the genre.

While the surname PURISIMA is not among the most common in the Spanish-speaking world, it has a rich history and has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, reflecting the cultural and religious traditions of its origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Purisima

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!