2000
#11,227
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,588
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.96
Rare Last name
Rubalcaba
Habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "head of the cove" in Spanish.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,191 Americans carry the last name Rubalcaba. That puts it at #10,931 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.93 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 107,413 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rubalcaba surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
3.2K
1 in 107,413
Census rank
#10,931
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,783 bearers of the surname Rubalcaba in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.93 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10931st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rubalcaba, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 92.3%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Two or More Races (0.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rubalcaba
The surname Rubalcaba has its origins in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in Spain. It is believed to have emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. The name is thought to be derived from a combination of Spanish words, possibly "rub" meaning "red" and "alcoba" meaning "alcove" or "bedchamber." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person who lived or worked in a red-colored room or alcove.
One of the earliest recorded instances of this surname can be found in the Libro de Repartimiento de Sevilla, a document from the 13th century that recorded the distribution of land and property in the city of Seville after its conquest by King Ferdinand III of Castile in 1248. The name Rubalcaba appears in this text, indicating its presence in Andalusia, southern Spain, during that era.
In the 15th century, the surname Rubalcaba is mentioned in records from the town of Úbeda, in the province of Jaén, Andalusia. This provides evidence of the name's continued presence in the region over several centuries.
Notable individuals who have borne the surname Rubalcaba include Diego Rubalcaba, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico in the 16th century, and Juan de Rubalcaba, a 17th-century Spanish painter known for his religious works.
In the 19th century, José Rubalcaba y Husillo (1809-1885) was a Spanish politician and jurist who served as a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies and as a judge in the Supreme Court of Spain.
Another prominent figure was Enrique Rubalcaba Higuera (1883-1966), a Spanish military officer who fought in the Rif War in Morocco and later held important positions in the Spanish Army during the Second Spanish Republic and the Spanish Civil War.
More recently, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (1951-2019) was a Spanish politician who served as the Minister of the Interior and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain under the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rubalcaba
Among Census respondents with the surname Rubalcaba, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 92.3%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Two or More Races (0.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Rubalcaba bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Rubalcaba surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino92.3% · 2,568
- White6.6% · 183
- Two or more races0.5% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
- Black or African American0.1% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rubalcaba
Rubalcaba appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#10,792
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,955
+367 bearers (+14.2%)
Per 100,000 1.00
Rank movement Up 435 places
2020
#10,931
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,783
-172 bearers (-5.8%)
Per 100,000 0.93
Rank movement Down 139 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,227 | 2,588 | 0.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,792 | 2,955 | 1.00 | +367 bearers (+14.2%) | Up 435 places |
| 2020 | #10,931 | 2,783 | 0.93 | -172 bearers (-5.8%) | Down 139 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Rubalcaba surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #10,792 | #10,931 | -1.3% |
| Count | 2,955 | 2,783 | -5.8% |
| Per 100K | 1.00 | 0.93 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rubalcaba bearers went from 2,955 to 2,783 (-5.8% change). The surname moved down 139 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,792 to #10,931.
FAQ
Rubalcaba surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rubalcaba?
Name Census estimates that about 3,191 living Americans carry the surname Rubalcaba. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 107,413 residents.
How common is Rubalcaba?
Rubalcaba ranks #10,931 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.93 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,783 people with the surname Rubalcaba. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,191), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.93 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.93 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Rubalcaba.
Has Rubalcaba become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rubalcaba went from 2,955 recorded bearers to 2,783. That is a decrease of 172 (-5.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,792 to #10,931.
What does the Census say about the background of Rubalcaba?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rubalcaba, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 92.3%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Rubalcaba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (2,568 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rubalcaba appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (92.3%), White (6.6%), Two or More Races (0.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Rubalcaba (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Rubalcaba mean?
Habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "head of the cove" in Spanish. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Rubalcaba (0.93 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Rubalcaba?
You can see how common the surname Rubalcaba is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.