The Canales surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 24,384 people carried this name — #1,462 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 12,100 people counted. That is up 40% from 17,381 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Canales surname
From canales (plural of canal).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Canales» (Spanish), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 3,952 people named Canales live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 115 people named Canales.
49 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 18 départements, most often Hérault.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
66 people named Canales live in Switzerland.
They live in 6 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Geneva.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
32 people named Canales is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Canales in American newspapers,
1847–1957.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,643,479 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Canales,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Nemesio Canales 1878–1923 · writer -
Marta Canales 1893–1986 · composer -
Lorea Canales 1901– · lawyer -
Alfonso Canales 1923–2010 · writer -
Susana Canales 1933–2021 · actor
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 96 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Canales.
- Camus 710 · U.S. census
- Can 1,065 · U.S. census
- Canada 9,819 · U.S. census
- Canadas 147 · U.S. census
- Canal 1,135 · U.S. census
- Canale 2,396 · U.S. census
- Canali 175 · U.S. census
- Canals 395 · U.S. census
- Canard 440 · U.S. census
- Canas 4,832 · U.S. census
- Canava 189 · U.S. census
- Cancel 3,801 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Canales is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.