Vigneau last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Vigneau

A locational surname derived from Vigneau, a place name in western France.

Vigneau, 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 Vigneau surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vigneau in America

Vigneau is the 46568th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vigneau surname appeared 457 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 Vigneau.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vigneau 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 46568 44654 4.20%
Count 457 453 0.88%
Proportion per 100k 0.15 0.17 -12.50%

The history of the last name Vigneau

The surname VIGNEAU originated in France during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "vigne", meaning "vineyard". The name likely originated in one of the wine-growing regions of France, such as Bordeaux or Burgundy, where it was used to identify someone who lived near or worked in a vineyard.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Savigny, a 13th-century manuscript that mentions a "Petrus de Vigneau" in the year 1272. This suggests that the name was already well-established in certain parts of France by that time.

In the 14th century, the name appears in various records from the region of Poitou, where it was often spelled as "Vignault" or "Vigneault". For example, a certain Jean Vignault is mentioned in the archives of the city of Niort in 1386.

During the Renaissance period, the name began to spread beyond its original regions. In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the name was Jean Vigneau, a French Protestant minister who fled to Geneva during the Wars of Religion (1562-1598). He later became a professor of theology at the University of Geneva.

Another prominent figure with the surname was Pierre Vigneau (1625-1695), a French explorer and fur trader who was one of the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River basin in North America. He is credited with helping to establish French colonial settlements in the region.

In more recent centuries, the name VIGNEAU has been associated with several notable individuals in various fields. These include:

  1. Édouard Vigneau (1858-1936), a French sculptor and painter known for his monumental works.
  2. Georges Vigneau (1883-1942), a French actor and director who appeared in numerous films during the early 20th century.
  3. Jean-Paul Vigneau (1904-1987), a French writer and journalist who was a member of the Académie Française.
  4. Gérard Vigneau (1933-2012), a French businessman and philanthropist who founded the Vigneau Foundation.
  5. Éric Vigneau (born 1966), a French professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for several clubs in France and England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vigneau

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

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 Vigneau was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 96.06% 439
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.53% 7
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 1.53% 7

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 96.06% 96.69% -0.65%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.53% 1.32% 14.74%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 1.53% 1.32% 14.74%

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

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

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"Vigneau last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 25, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/vigneau-surname-popularity/.

"Vigneau last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/vigneau-surname-popularity/. Accessed 25 November, 2024

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

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