Explore the Family Name Sena
The meaning of Sena
1. Portuguese: from a Christian religious byname adopted in honor of Saint Catherine of Siena (Portuguese Sena). This saint was born in 1347 at Siena in Tuscany, the daughter of a wool-dyer with the surname Benincasa, and combined her work among the poor of the city with an influential role in ecclesiastical politics. 2. Italian (southern): from the female personal name Sena, possibly a variant of Senna (see Seno) or Siena. 3. Albanian: from Senë (definite form Sena), a short form of the Albanian Muslim personal name Isen or Hysen, equivalents of Husain. Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Manuel, Jose, Carlos, Arturo, Diego, Jesus, Juan, Orlando, Alfonso, Angelina, Armando, Ignacio. Italian Antonio, Angelo, Giuseppe, Salvatore, Carmel, Carmelo, Cecilio, Sal, Agostino, Carlo, Cosmo, Dante.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Sena in the United States?
According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Sena has seen a rise in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, Sena was ranked as the 4746th most popular surname in the United States. By 2010, it had risen slightly to the 4669th position, a change of approximately 1.62%. During this same period, the count of people with the Sena last name increased by 11.31% from 6825 to 7597 individuals. Furthermore, for every 100,000 people, the number of individuals named Sena grew by about 1.98%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #4,746 | #4,669 | 1.62% |
| Count | 6,825 | 7,597 | 11.31% |
| Proportion per 100k | 2.53 | 2.58 | 1.98% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sena
The ethnicity associated with the surname Sena also shifted somewhat between 2000 and 2010, based on information provided by the Decennial U.S. Census. The percentage of Asian/Pacific Islanders and Black individuals with the Sena surname saw significant increases, rising by 39.24% and 94.29%, respectively. Conversely, the proportion of those identifying as Two or more races dropped by 60.61%. There was a small decrease of 1.43% in the White population with this surname, while the Hispanic group experienced a slight growth of 0.30%. Meanwhile, the percentage of American Indian and Alaskan Natives with the surname Sena dipped marginally by 2.35%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hispanic | 59.59% | 59.77% | 0.3% |
| White | 33.49% | 33.01% | -1.43% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 2.37% | 3.3% | 39.24% |
| Black | 1.05% | 2.04% | 94.29% |
| Two or More Races | 2.64% | 1.04% | -60.61% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.85% | 0.83% | -2.35% |
Sena ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Sena is Spanish & Portuguese, which comprises 31.6% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are British & Irish (18.2%) and Indigenous American (15.9%). Additional ancestries include Italian, French & German, Ashkenazi Jewish, Eastern European, and Senegambian & Guinean.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| Spanish & Portuguese | 31.6% |
| British & Irish | 18.2% |
| Indigenous American | 15.9% |
| Other | 34.3% |
Possible origins of the surname Sena
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Sena have recent ancestry locations all within Mexico.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Veracruz, Mexico | 47.50% |
| Guerrero, Mexico | 47.50% |
| Nuevo Leon, Mexico | 47.50% |
| Nayarit, Mexico | 47.50% |
| Sinaloa, Mexico | 47.50% |
What Sena haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Sena is J-CTS5368, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup J-CTS5368 is descended from haplogroup J-M304. Other common haplogroups include R-P311 and R-U152, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: De Los Santos, Randazzo, Zepeda, Rabin, Kaufman, Lieberman, Graham, Carbajal, Lombard, Meltzer.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Sena surname are: A2, H, B2. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins J-M304
Your paternal lineage may be linked to men who spread the Semitic languages
Men carrying the J-M267 lineage took part in many waves of migrations over the millennia, and domesticated animals and plants weren't the only things they carried. They may also have been among the communities that spread the Semitic languages, a diverse group that bloomed from a single proto-Semitic tongue in the Levant nearly 5,750 years ago. These men likely carried branches of both haplogroup J and of the Semitic language family through the Arabian Peninsula to the Horn of Africa. Still later, some J-M267-bearing men re-expanded from the Arabian Peninsula back through the Middle East and across North Africa in migrations associated with the emergence and spread of Islam.
Your maternal lineage may be linked to some of the first Americans
Though the Ice Age was beginning to retreat when your A2 ancestors first entered North America, there were still massive barriers blocking their way. Glaciers and inhospitable climate covered much of the continent, blocking entry into the interior. Nonetheless, researchers have found evidence that a wave of American founders migrated over 13,000 kilometers to reach southern Chile in only 2,000 years, a blink of an eye in the story of human migration! Their highway to the south was the coast of the Pacific, stocked with fish, diverse marine mammals, and other valuable resources in the rich kelp forests of the upper latitudes and in the abundant fresh-water rivers near the equator. Because of this rapid movement south, the A2 haplogroup and its diverse branches are found throughout North and South America.
What do people with the surname Sena have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"Sena" Surname 42.5%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Misophonia
When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.
"Sena" Surname 30.0%
23andMe Users 27.9%
Habits
Sugary Drink
Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.
"Sena" Surname 20.3%
23andMe Users 21.1%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"Sena" Surname 14.3%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name Sena?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Sena are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition