Explore the Family Name Popoca

The meaning of Popoca

Amerindian (Mexico): from the Nahuatl (Aztec) verb popoca ‘to smoke’. In the Aztec legend this is a short form of the name of a warrior, the suitor of Ixta, turned into the Popocatépetl (‘the smoking mountain’) volcano.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Popoca has seen a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 21,142nd most popular surname but by 2010, it had risen to the 15,409th position. This represents a positive change of 27.12%. The count of individuals with the surname also increased from 1,157 in 2000 to 1,901 in 2010, showing a substantial growth of 64.3%. Consequently, the proportion per 100,000 people in the U.S. population carrying the Popoca surname grew by 48.84%, from 0.43 to 0.64.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,142	#15,409	27.12%
Count	1,157	1,901	64.3%
Proportion per 100k	0.43	0.64	48.84%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Popoca

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census provides insights into the ethnic identity associated with the surname Popoca. In both 2000 and 2010, the overwhelming majority of individuals with this surname identified as Hispanic, at 97.15% and 97.16% respectively. There was a small increase of 0.01% over this decade. A slight shift was also noted within the white demographic, increasing from 1.99% to 2.37%, a change of 19.10%. The Black demographic, however, was recorded at 0.52% in 2000 but was suppressed in the 2010 data for privacy reasons. No individuals with the surname Popoca identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
Hispanic	97.15%	97.16%	0.01%
White	1.99%	2.37%	19.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0.52%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%