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

Reynaga, 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 Reynaga surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Reynaga in America

Reynaga is the 9241st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Reynaga surname appeared 3,522 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Reynaga.

We can also compare 2010 data for Reynaga 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 Reynaga

The surname Reynaga is believed to have originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is derived from the Spanish word "reina," meaning "queen," and likely referred to someone who lived or worked on lands owned by the queen or in service to the royal court. The earliest known spelling variations include Reinaga, Reynago, and Reinnaga.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Reynaga name can be found in a 14th-century document from the region of Castile, where a certain Pedro Reynaga was mentioned as a landowner. Another early reference is a 16th-century manuscript from Aragon, which lists a Juan de Reynaga among the local nobility.

As the Spanish empire expanded into the Americas during the 16th and 17th centuries, many Spaniards with the Reynaga surname settled in the colonies, particularly in Mexico and Peru. One notable example is Diego de Reynaga, a conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru under Francisco Pizarro in the 1530s.

In the 18th century, a prominent figure bearing the Reynaga name was José Antonio de Reynaga, a Spanish military officer and governor of the province of Tucumán in present-day Argentina. He played a significant role in defending the region against indigenous uprisings and fortifying colonial settlements.

Another individual of note is Modesto Reynaga, a 19th-century Mexican politician and journalist who served as a deputy in the Congress of Mexico during the turbulent period of the Mexican-American War in the 1840s. He was an outspoken advocate for Mexican independence and sovereignty.

In more recent history, one of the most famous bearers of the Reynaga surname was Antonio Reynaga, a celebrated Peruvian artist and writer who lived from 1899 to 1969. He was known for his modernist paintings and literary works that explored indigenous themes and cultural identity.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Reynaga

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

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

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

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