Sagal last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Sagal

A Jewish surname derived from the Biblical name of a town called Shagal in Israel.

Sagal, 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 Sagal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sagal in America

Sagal is the 51066th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sagal surname appeared 408 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 Sagal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sagal 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank5106660230-16.47%
Count40831326.35%
Proportion per 100k0.140.1215.38%

The history of the last name Sagal

The surname SAGAL is believed to have originated in the region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain during the medieval period. It is thought to have derived from the Latin word 'sagalis', which refers to a type of coarse woolen cloak or garment worn by shepherds and peasants.

The earliest known record of the SAGAL surname dates back to the 13th century, where it appeared in several local documents from the town of Vic, near Barcelona. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name was Joan Sagal, a wool merchant who lived in Vic in the late 1200s.

In the 14th century, the SAGAL surname began to spread beyond Catalonia and into other parts of Spain, as well as into neighboring regions of southern France. During this time, variations of the spelling emerged, such as Sagala, Sagales, and Sagall.

One notable figure in the history of the SAGAL name was Bernat Sagal, a 15th-century merchant and landowner from the town of Girona, who was involved in the local wool trade and became quite wealthy. His descendants continued to use the SAGAL surname for generations.

Another prominent individual bearing the SAGAL name was Jaume Sagal (1520-1587), a renowned Catalan architect who designed several churches and public buildings in Barcelona and surrounding areas.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the SAGAL surname began to appear in records from other parts of Europe, as members of the family migrated to different regions. For example, there are records of individuals named SAGAL living in parts of Italy, France, and the Netherlands during this time.

One notable figure from this period was Pedro Sagal (1602-1674), a Spanish military officer who served in the Thirty Years' War and later became a colonial administrator in the Spanish territories in the Americas.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the SAGAL surname continued to spread across Europe and beyond, with individuals bearing the name appearing in various historical records and documents from various countries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sagal

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

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 Sagal was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only54.17%221
Non-Hispanic Black Only3.68%15
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only1.96%8
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin39.22%160

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

20102000Change (%)
White54.17%71.88%-28.10%
Black3.68%3.51%4.73%
Asian and Pacific Islander1.96%2.88%-38.02%
American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races(S)%(S)%(S)%
Hispanic39.22%20.77%61.51%

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

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

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