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

Zarceño, 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 Zarceño surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zarceño in America

Zarceño is the 88685th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zarceño surname appeared 209 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 Zarceño.

The history of the last name Zarceño

The surname Zarceno is believed to have its origins in Spain, from the region of Galicia. The name is possibly derived from the Galician or Spanish word "zarza," meaning bramble or thorny bush, which could suggest that the original bearers of the name lived near such vegetation. The suffix "-eno" is a common Spanish diminutive or locative suffix, which often implies "from" or "related to." Thus, Zarceno might originally have meant "from the place of the brambles."

Historical references to the surname Zarceno are relatively scarce, but it is known to appear in written records dating back to the 16th century in Spain. One of the earliest instances of the name can be found in the Galician region, where land records from the late 1500s mention a family named Zarceno owning significant tracts of land near what is now the town of Sarria.

In 1623, a man by the name of Diego Zarceno is recorded as having been involved in a legal dispute over property rights in the province of Lugo, which provides further evidence of the surname’s presence in Galicia during the early modern period. Another early reference can be found in the baptismal records of the church of Santa María in Coruña from the year 1689, which lists Juana Zarceno as the godmother of a child baptized that year.

One notable individual from the 18th century is Bartolomé Zarceno, born in 1715 and recorded as a merchant who played a role in the trade between Spain and the New World colonies. He is mentioned in shipping manifests and trade agreements between the ports of Coruña and Havana in the mid-1700s. This points to the Zarceno family’s involvement in the burgeoning global trade networks of the era.

Another prominent individual bearing the name is Father Francisco Zarceno, a Jesuit priest born in 1760 who was active in southern Spain. He is known for his contributions to regional educational reforms and is mentioned in several ecclesiastical letters from the early 1800s.

In the 19th century, the surname appears in the records of Spanish emigration. An example is Mariana Zarceno, born in 1822, who is listed among the passengers emigrating to South America during the mid-19th century. She settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as many Spanish families did during that period, contributing to the diaspora of the surname outside of Spain.

Finally, in the realm of politics, Antonio Zarceno (1845-1912), originally from the city of Lugo, served as a local magistrate and was involved in several municipal reforms during the late 19th century. His work is documented in the administrative archives of the town of Monforte de Lemos, reflecting the surname’s historical presence in Galicia.

These historical instances and individuals provide a rich tapestry of the surname Zarceno, reflecting its deep roots in Galicia and its spread through trade, religion, and migration. The variations in its appearance across records highlight a name that has evolved but maintained its distinct regional origins through centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zarceño

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

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 Zarceño 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.

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Zarceño, 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!