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

Villanueva, 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 Villanueva surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Villanueva in America

Villanueva is the 105600th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Villanueva surname appeared 169 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 Villanueva.

We can also compare 2010 data for Villanueva 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 Villanueva

The surname Villanueva originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is a topographic name derived from the Spanish words "villa" meaning town or village, and "nueva" meaning new. This suggests the name was likely given to someone who lived in or came from a newly established town or village.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the Catalonian archives from the 13th century, where a person named Guillem de Villanueva was mentioned. The name also appears in various historical documents and records from different regions of Spain, including Aragon, Castile, and Andalusia.

In the 15th century, a notable figure with this surname was Juan de Villanueva, a Spanish architect and engineer who was responsible for designing and constructing several important buildings in Madrid, including the Royal Palace and the Prado Museum. He was born in 1739 and died in 1811.

Another prominent individual with the Villanueva surname was Joaquín de Villanueva, a Spanish politician and writer who lived during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was an influential figure in the Spanish Enlightenment and served as a member of the Cortes de Cádiz, the first national legislative body in Spain.

In the 19th century, Tomás de Villanueva Cortina was a Spanish general and politician who played a significant role in the Carlist Wars, a series of civil wars fought in Spain over the issue of succession to the throne. He was born in 1806 and died in 1890.

During the same period, there was also a notable Mexican politician and military leader named Melchor Múzquiz Villanueva, who served as the governor of Coahuila and Texas and played a crucial role in the Mexican War of Independence. He was born in 1790 and died in 1844.

While the Villanueva surname is predominantly Spanish in origin, it has also been adopted and adapted in various Latin American countries due to Spanish colonization and migration. Today, it is a common surname found throughout Spain and Latin America, with variations in spelling and pronunciation depending on the region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Villanueva

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

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

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

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