Rubalcava last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Rubalcava

A Basque habitational surname referring to a person from a place called Rubalcava, likely meaning "by the new cave."

Rubalcava, 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 Rubalcava surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rubalcava in America

Rubalcava is the 6605th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rubalcava surname appeared 5,130 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Rubalcava.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rubalcava 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 6605 7302 -10.02%
Count 5,130 4,208 19.75%
Proportion per 100k 1.74 1.56 10.91%

The history of the last name Rubalcava

The surname Rubalcava is of Spanish origin and its roots can be traced back to the late 15th century in the region of Andalusia, Spain. The name is believed to have derived from the Arabic phrase "rub al-qawa," which translates to "the strong quarter" or "the powerful neighborhood," reflecting the historical Moorish influence in the area.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Rubalcava name can be found in a medieval manuscript from the city of Seville, dated around 1492. This document lists a certain Pedro Rubalcava as a landowner and prominent member of the local community.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, as Spanish exploration and colonization expanded across the Atlantic, the Rubalcava name began to appear in various regions of the Americas. Notable individuals from this period include Juan Rubalcava (1534-1601), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru, and Catalina Rubalcava (1572-1638), a landowner and philanthropist in the viceroyalty of New Spain (modern-day Mexico).

In the 18th century, the Rubalcava family had established a presence in various parts of Spain's American colonies. One prominent figure was Miguel Rubalcava (1712-1782), a wealthy merchant and landowner in the region of Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina and Uruguay).

The 19th century saw the Rubalcava name spread further across the Americas, with individuals such as Manuel Rubalcava (1821-1896), a Mexican military officer who fought in the Mexican-American War, and Dolores Rubalcava (1839-1912), a renowned poet and educator from Chile.

As the centuries progressed, the Rubalcava name continued to be carried by notable individuals, such as Antonio Rubalcava (1901-1988), a Spanish-American artist known for his vibrant paintings depicting the American Southwest, and María Rubalcava (1928-2002), a respected human rights activist and advocate for indigenous communities in Guatemala.

While the name Rubalcava may have evolved in its spelling and pronunciation over time, its Spanish origins and rich heritage have remained an integral part of its identity, with bearers of this surname leaving their mark across various fields throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rubalcava

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

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 Rubalcava was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 4.13% 212
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.18% 9
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.21% 11
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 95.30% 4,889

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 Rubalcava has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 4.13% 4.73% -13.54%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.18% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.21% 0.29% -32.00%
Two or More Races (S)% 0.38% (S)%
Hispanic 95.30% 94.44% 0.91%

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

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

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"Rubalcava last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/rubalcava-surname-popularity/.

"Rubalcava last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/rubalcava-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Rubalcava last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/rubalcava-surname-popularity/.

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