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

Rabelo, 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 Rabelo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rabelo in America

Rabelo is the 35345th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rabelo surname appeared 637 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 Rabelo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rabelo 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 Rabelo

The surname Rabelo is of Portuguese origin, believed to have emerged in the 12th or 13th century. It is derived from the Latin word "rabellus," meaning a small brook or stream. This suggests that the name may have initially been used as a topographic surname, referring to someone who lived near a small brook or stream.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rabelo can be found in the Livro Velho dos Antigos Besteiros do Conto, a 13th-century manuscript that lists the names of crossbowmen in Portugal. The name Rabelo appears several times in this document, indicating its presence in the region during that time period.

In the 15th century, the name Rabelo is mentioned in the Livro das Lezírias, a compilation of land records in Portugal. This suggests that individuals bearing the surname Rabelo owned or occupied land near small brooks or streams, further reinforcing the topographic origin of the name.

Notable individuals with the surname Rabelo include João Rabelo, a 16th-century Portuguese explorer and navigator who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his famous voyage around the world. Another noteworthy figure is Pedro Rabelo de Sousa, a 17th-century Portuguese nobleman and military officer who served as the Governor of Pernambuco in Brazil.

In the 18th century, José Rabelo was a prominent Portuguese architect who designed several notable buildings in Lisbon, including the Church of São Roque and the Convent of Santo Antão-o-Novo. His works are considered excellent examples of the Baroque style in Portuguese architecture.

Another notable individual with the surname Rabelo is Manuel Rabelo Mendes, a 19th-century Brazilian author and journalist who played a significant role in the Romantic literary movement in Brazil. He was born in 1808 and is best known for his novel "Memorias de um Sargento de Milicias," which is considered a classic of Brazilian literature.

The surname Rabelo has also been associated with various place names in Portugal, such as Rabelo (a parish in the municipality of Montalegre) and Ribeira de Rabelo (a small river in the municipality of Figueiró dos Vinhos). These place names likely derived from the same topographic origins as the surname itself, further solidifying the connection between the name and its geographical references.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rabelo

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Rabelo, 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!