Distribution of the surname LEAL worldwide

The surname LEAL is found in many countries. I was interested in finding out where the name is found and in what (relative) frequency. For this I did some research using the website www.familysearch.org.

Frequency - absolute and relative as % total # of LEALs
There are roughly 19,000 entries on the surname LEAL for all territories worldwide. The surname LEAL is found in 37 territories (out of 83). The top ten is as follows (# country – number of entries; number of entries as % of total LEAL entries worldwide):

1.Mexico – 5,000 entries; 25.8% of total;
2.Spain – 3,049 entries; 15.7% of total;
3.Colombia – 2,597 entries; 13.4% of total;
4.Venezuela – 1,793 entries; 9.3% of total;
5.Uruguay – 1,522 entries; 7.9% of total;
6.Argentina – 872 entries; 4.5% of total;
7.Portugal – 675 entries; 3.5% of total;
8.Canada – 675 entries; 3.5% of total;
9.Scotland – 662 entries; 3.4% of total;
10.England – 546 entries; 2.8% of total.

Total top ten: 17,391 entries; 89.7% of total.

Relative frequency as % total population / country
I was also interested in finding out the relative frequency of the LEAL entries per country as a percentage of the total population (in 10,000) per country. The top ten is as follows (# country – number of entries per country as % of total population per country [in 10,000]; total population of country [in millions]):

1.Uruguay – 4.6%; 3.3 million;
2.Scotland – 1.3%; 5.0 million;
3.Spain – 0.8%; 39.2 million;
4.Venezuela – 0.8%; 23.2 million;
5.Portugal – 0.7%; 9.9 million;
6.UK Channel Islands – 0.7%; 0.2 million;
7.Colombia – 0.7%; 39.3 million;
8.Mexico – 0.5%; 100.3 million;
9.Argentina – 0.2%; 36.7 million;
10.Canada – 0.2%; 31.0 million.

Analysis
One should be cautious in reaching conclusions on the basis of my research. It is not a scientific research. For example, the relative number of LEAL entries per country is not a statistically correct estimation of the relative number of LEAL living in a particular country today. There are many other factors which could result in under and over estimating the number of LEALs per country considerably.

Generally, the research supports the claim that the surname LEAL is mainly found in Spain, Portugal and its former territories. What I find interesting is that the name is also found at a relatively high frequency in England and in particular in Scotland. What I had not expected is the number of entries for Brazil to be so low, both absolutely and relatively.

If you are interested in the complete list, please let me know by sending me an e-mail. I can send you the list as an excel document and / or as a pfd document.

Kind regards,

Oscar Leal
the Netherlands