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

Velandia, 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 Velandia surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Velandia in America

Velandia is the 57516th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Velandia surname appeared 354 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 Velandia.

We can also compare 2010 data for Velandia 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 Velandia

The surname Velandia originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is derived from the Spanish word "vela," which means "candle" or "vigil." The name likely referred to someone who worked as a candle maker or lived near a church where candles were used for vigils.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Velandia can be found in the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a collection of medieval documents from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in the province of La Rioja, Spain. This document dates back to the 10th century and mentions a person named Velando, which was likely an early variant of the surname Velandia.

During the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors, many Spanish families with the surname Velandia settled in the regions of Castile and Andalusia. The name can be found in various medieval records and documents from these areas, indicating its presence and spread throughout Spain.

In the 16th century, the Velandia surname made its way to the Americas during the Spanish colonization. One notable figure from this period was Pedro de Velandia, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Colombia and founded the city of Tunja in 1539.

Another historical figure with the surname Velandia was Juan de Velandia, a Spanish military officer who served as the governor of the province of Cartagena (present-day Colombia) in the late 16th century.

During the 17th century, the Velandia family played a significant role in the colonial administration of New Granada (present-day Colombia and Panama). Juan Bautista de Velandia was a notable figure from this period, serving as the governor of the province of Antioquia in the 1650s.

In the 18th century, José Celestino Mutis, a renowned Spanish botanist and mathematician, was born in Cádiz, Spain, in 1732. Although not directly related to the Velandia family, Mutis had close connections with individuals bearing this surname during his time in the Spanish colonies.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, several notable individuals carried the surname Velandia, including Aurelio Velandia, a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Congress of Colombia in the late 19th century, and Enrique Velandia, a Colombian writer and poet born in 1901.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Velandia

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

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

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

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