Explore the Family Name Bega

The meaning of Bega

Spanish: variant of Vega. Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Jose, Rafael, Justo, Manuel, Cesar, Dalia, Juan, Ruben, Trinidad, Reis.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Bega in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Bega has seen a slight increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Bega was ranked the 29,040th most popular surname in the United States. By 2010, it had risen slightly to become the 28,967th most common surname, signifying a change of 0.25%. The count of individuals with the Bega surname also increased from 769 in 2000 to 820 in 2010, marking a growth rate of 6.63%. However, the proportion of Begans per 100,000 people slightly decreased by 3.45%, dropping from 0.29 to 0.28.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#29,040	#28,967	0.25%
Count	769	820	6.63%
Proportion per 100k	0.29	0.28	-3.45%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Bega

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that there were some shifts in the ethnic identity associated with the surname Bega between 2000 and 2010. The majority of Begans identified as Hispanic, although this proportion decreased from 70.22% in 2000 to 66.46% in 2010. The percentage of Begans identifying as White saw an increase, going up from 21.46% to 27.56%. Meanwhile, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander saw a significant decrease, dropping from 3.90% to 1.59%. Small changes were observed within the Black community and the American Indian and Alaskan Native community. The number of Begans identifying as two or more races slightly decreased from 1.95% to 1.83%.

	2000	2010	Change
Hispanic	70.22%	66.46%	-5.35%
White	21.46%	27.56%	28.42%
Two or More Races	1.95%	1.83%	-6.15%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1.69%	1.83%	8.28%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.9%	1.59%	-59.23%
Black	0.78%	0.73%	-6.41%