Saldua last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Saldua

A surname of Basque/Spanish origin meaning "grove" or "thicket".

Saldua, 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 Saldua surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Saldua in America

Saldua is the 77522nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Saldua surname appeared 247 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 Saldua.

We can also compare 2010 data for Saldua 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 (%)
Rank7752285996-10.36%
Count24720220.04%
Proportion per 100k0.080.0713.33%

The history of the last name Saldua

The surname SALDUA is of Spanish origin, originating from the Basque region in northern Spain near the Pyrenees mountains. It likely emerged sometime during the medieval period, between the 5th and 15th centuries.

SALDUA is believed to be derived from the Basque words "saldo" meaning "woods" or "forest" and "ua" meaning "place". This suggests the name may have referred to a person living in a wooded or forested area. Alternatively, it could be related to the Basque word "saldua" meaning "sold" or "saleable", potentially indicating an early occupation or trade.

Early records of the name are scarce, as many Basque surnames were not formally documented until later centuries. However, some variations such as "Salduha" and "Saldua" can be found in regional records and church documents dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname was Juan de Saldua, a prominent landowner and local official in the town of Azpeitia, who lived in the mid-16th century. Another notable figure was Pedro Saldua, a Basque soldier who fought in the Spanish Armada against England in 1588.

During the 17th century, the name appears in various Basque records, including the birth of María Saldua in 1632 in the village of Legazpi. In the 18th century, Ignacio Saldua (1743-1811) was a respected physician and academic in the city of San Sebastián.

As the Basque people migrated and settled in other parts of Spain and abroad, the surname Saldua spread to new regions. In the 19th century, notable individuals included José Saldua (1828-1897), a prominent writer and journalist in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Martín Saldua (1857-1932), a celebrated painter from Bilbao, Spain.

Throughout its history, the surname Saldua has maintained a strong connection to its Basque roots and heritage, with many families tracing their ancestry back to the northern regions of Spain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Saldua

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

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 Saldua was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only5.67%14
Non-Hispanic Black Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only43.72%108
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin49.80%123

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

20102000Change (%)
White5.67%2.48%78.28%
Black(S)%(S)%(S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander43.72%35.64%20.36%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races(S)%5.45%(S)%
Hispanic49.80%55.94%-11.61%

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.

Search
Search
Background shape