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

Raul, 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 Raul surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Raul in America

Raul is the 66164th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Raul surname appeared 299 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 Raul.

We can also compare 2010 data for Raul 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 Raul

The surname RAUL originates from Spain and has its roots in the medieval Iberian Peninsula. It is believed to have derived from the ancient Visigothic name "Radulf," which itself stems from the Germanic elements "rad" meaning counsel and "wulf" meaning wolf.

In the early Middle Ages, the name was spelled in various forms, such as Radulfo, Radulpho, and Radulfus, as it spread across the Iberian territories. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Becerro de las Behetrías, a medieval Castilian manuscript from the 14th century, which mentions a nobleman named Raul de Guzmán.

During the Reconquista period, when Christian kingdoms were reclaiming territories from Moorish rule, the name RAUL gained prominence among noble families in regions like Castile and Aragon. Records from this era, including the Repartimientos, documents detailing the distribution of land and properties, contain references to individuals bearing the surname RAUL.

Notably, the name is associated with Raul Gonzalez de Traba (c. 1070-1144), a Galician nobleman and one of the most powerful figures in the Kingdom of León during the 12th century. Another prominent bearer of the surname was Raul de Villandrando (c. 1380-1459), a French military leader who fought for the Crown of Aragon in the Reconquista campaigns.

In the 16th century, the surname RAUL was carried by explorers and conquistadors who accompanied the Spanish expeditions to the Americas. One such individual was Raul de Andagoya (c. 1500-1559), a Spanish conquistador and explorer who participated in the conquest of present-day Colombia and Peru.

Over the centuries, the surname RAUL has been associated with various notable figures, including Raul Leoni (1905-1976), a Venezuelan politician and president from 1964 to 1969, and Raul Prebisch (1901-1986), an Argentine economist and a founding father of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

While the surname RAUL has its roots in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through Spanish exploration and colonization, and is now found in various Latin American countries, as well as in regions with significant Hispanic populations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Raul

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

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

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

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