The Nunes surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 12,191 people carried this name — #2,942 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 24,200 people counted. That is up 10% from 11,081 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Nunes surname
A surname originating as a patronymic.
Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese Nunez. By surface analysis, Nuno + -es (“son of”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Nunes» (Portuguese), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
2,205 people named Nunes live in Switzerland.
They live in 25 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere 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 Argentina’s national register
At least 1,741 people named Nunes 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 694 people named Nunes.
Most of them — 414 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 63 départements, most often Gironde.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 27 people named Nunes live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
43 people named Nunes are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
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) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Nunes in American newspapers,
1917–1919.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,442,002 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Nunes,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Pedro Nunes 1502–1578 · astronomer -
António Alberto Nunes 1838–1912 · sculptor -
José Jacinto Nunes 1839–1931 · politician -
Commander Jacintho José Nunes Leite 1840–1914 · businessperson -
João Nunes "Diabinho" 1850–1927 · music theorist
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 238 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Nunes.
- Nucci 800 · U.S. census
- Nucera 106 · U.S. census
- Nuevo 252 · U.S. census
- Nuez 281 · U.S. census
- Nuffer 452 · U.S. census
- Numa 376 · U.S. census
- Nunez 125,350 · U.S. census
- Nusbaum 2,716 · U.S. census
- Nuss 3,765 · U.S. census
- Nussbaum 4,321 · U.S. census
- Nussbaumer 484 · U.S. census
- Nuti 275 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Nunes 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.