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

Villacaña, 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 Villacaña surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Villacaña in America

Villacaña is the 111988th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Villacaña surname appeared 157 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 Villacaña.

We can also compare 2010 data for Villacaña 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 Villacaña

The surname Villacana originates from Spain, likely emerging in the 11th or 12th century. It is believed to be derived from the Spanish words "villa" meaning town or village, and "cana" which may refer to a gray or white-haired individual. This suggests the name may have initially denoted someone from a particular town or village who had notable gray or white hair.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name Villacana can be found in the Becerro de las Behetrías de Castilla, a 14th-century manuscript detailing the landed estates of Castile. This document mentions a certain García Fernández de Villacana who was a nobleman in the region.

In the 15th century, there are records of a Diego de Villacana who served as a soldier under King Ferdinand II of Aragon during the Spanish conquest of Granada. His son, Pedro de Villacana, was also a notable military figure and participated in the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

During the 16th century, the name appears in various documents related to the Spanish Inquisition, suggesting there were individuals with this surname who were subject to investigation or persecution by the Inquisition authorities.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Villacana was Alonso de Villacana, a Spanish explorer who was part of the expedition led by Juan Ponce de León in 1513, which is credited with being the first European exploration of Florida.

In the 17th century, a notable figure was Gaspar de Villacana, a Spanish playwright and poet who was active in the literary circles of Madrid during the reign of Philip IV.

As the Spanish Empire expanded across the Americas, the surname Villacana also spread to various regions of the New World, particularly in areas that were part of the Spanish colonial territories such as Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of South America.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Villacaña

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

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

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

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