Carranza
A Spanish surname referring to the plant meadow-grass or a pass-through mountain terrain.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Carranza. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Carranza today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carranza births was 1914 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carranza. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Carranza. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1914
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1914 SSA rank
#3,329
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Carranza: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Carranza by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Carranza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Carranza
The name Carranza has its origins in the Spanish language and culture. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "carranza," which means "chariot" or "wagon." The name is thought to have originated as a surname in the northern regions of Spain, particularly in the Basque Country, during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carranza can be found in the medieval Spanish epic poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid," which dates back to the 12th century. In this poem, Carranza is mentioned as the name of a knight who fought alongside the legendary hero El Cid.
During the 16th century, the name Carranza gained prominence with the rise of Bartolomé Carranza de Miranda, a Dominican friar and Archbishop of Toledo. He played a significant role in the Spanish Inquisition and was eventually accused of heresy, although he was later exonerated.
Another notable figure bearing the name Carranza was Venustiano Carranza, a Mexican politician and leader of the Mexican Revolution. Born in 1859, he served as the President of Mexico from 1917 to 1920 and was instrumental in drafting the country's current constitution.
In the realm of sports, Adolfo Carranza, a Mexican athlete born in 1942, made a name for himself as a professional boxer. He held the WBC super featherweight title from 1965 to 1967.
Moving to the arts, José Carranza, a Spanish painter born in 1837, gained recognition for his works depicting scenes from Spanish history and culture. His paintings can be found in various museums across Spain.
It is worth noting that while the name Carranza has its roots in Spain, it has also been adopted in other Spanish-speaking countries, particularly in Mexico and parts of Latin America, where it continues to be a relatively common given name.
People
Carranza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carranza as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Carranza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carranza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carranza going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about - US residents.
Is Carranza a common name?
We classify Carranza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carranza most popular?
The single biggest year for Carranza was 1914, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carranza is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Carranza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carranza a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carranza in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Carranza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carranza in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Carranza can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Carranza?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.