Explore the Family Name Meireles

The meaning of Meireles

Portuguese: habitational name from a place called Meireles in Bragança district. This surname is also found in northwestern Spain.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Meireles has seen a notable increase in popularity in the United States. In 2000, it ranked 87,348 in popularity, but by 2010, it had climbed to 69,170. This represents an increase of 20.81%. In terms of absolute numbers, the count of individuals with this surname increased from 198 in 2000 to 284 in 2010, which is a significant increase of 43.43%. For every 100k people in the U.S., the proportion with this surname increased from 0.07 to 0.1.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#87,348	#69,170	20.81%
Count	198	284	43.43%
Proportion per 100k	0.07	0.1	42.86%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Meireles

The Decennial U.S. Census also provides an insight into the ethnicity linked with the Meireles surname. The majority identify as White, representing 55.56% in 2000 and increasing to 67.61% in 2010. Those identifying as Hispanic made up the second largest group, although their percentage decreased from 29.80% to 25.00% over the decade. People of Asian/Pacific Islander and Black ethnicity were recorded in 2010, while none were reported in 2000. Meanwhile, those who identified with two or more races represented 11.62% in 2000 but no such identities were reported in 2010. Lastly, there were no individuals with the Meireles surname who identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	55.56%	67.61%	21.69%
Hispanic	29.8%	25%	-16.11%
Black	0%	2.82%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	2.11%	0%
Two or More Races	11.62%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%