Guerrero
A Spanish name meaning "warrior" or "soldier".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Guerrero. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Guerrero today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Guerrero births was 1989 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Guerrero. 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 Guerrero. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
1989
6 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2002 SSA rank
#9,806
Tracked since 1989
Census
Guerrero in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 331 people with the first name Guerrero, which placed it at #27,567 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,567
National first-name rank
People counted
331
331 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guerrero
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Guerrero is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%) and White (1.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Guerrero described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Guerrero at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.9% · 301
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 16
- White1.8% · 6
- Black or African American1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 4
Popularity
Guerrero: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Guerrero from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Guerrero 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 Guerrero during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Guerrero
The name Guerrero originates from the Spanish language and has its roots in the Medieval period. It is derived from the word "guerra," meaning "war" in Spanish, and was initially used to refer to a soldier or warrior. The name gained prominence during the Reconquista, the period in which Christian kingdoms fought to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Guerrero can be found in the "Cantar de Mio Cid," an epic poem from the 12th century that recounts the life of the Castilian nobleman and military leader El Cid. The poem mentions several warriors known as "guerreros," which highlights the name's association with bravery and military prowess.
Throughout history, the name Guerrero has been borne by several notable individuals. One such figure is Juan Guerrero (c. 1530-1599), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of the Aztec Empire alongside Hernán Cortés. Another prominent bearer was José Guerrero (1819-1853), a Mexican politician and military leader who fought against the French intervention in Mexico.
In the realm of art and literature, the name Guerrero has been carried by individuals like José Guerrero (1914-1991), a Spanish abstract painter known for his vibrant use of color and geometric forms. Additionally, Naufal Guerrero (1859-1918) was a renowned Guatemalan poet and diplomat who played a significant role in the literary Renaissance of Central America.
Moving to the 20th century, one cannot overlook Gonzalo Guerrero (1470-1536), a Spanish sailor who shipwrecked on the Yucatán Peninsula and became one of the first Europeans to embrace Mayan culture. His story has been the subject of numerous books and scholarly works, highlighting the cultural exchange between European and indigenous civilizations.
It is important to note that while the name Guerrero has been predominantly associated with Spanish and Latin American cultures, it has also been adopted in other parts of the world due to its strong and evocative meaning. However, the historical and cultural significance of the name remains deeply rooted in its Iberian origins and the legacy of the Reconquista period.
People
Guerrero + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Guerrero as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Guerrero: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Guerrero?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Guerrero 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 1 in 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Guerrero a common name?
We classify Guerrero as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Guerrero most popular?
The single biggest year for Guerrero was 1989, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Guerrero is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Guerrero in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 331 people with the name Guerrero, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,567 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Guerrero in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Guerrero?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Guerrero leans strongly male. 297 people counted with this name were male (90.3%), compared with 32 female bearers (9.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Guerrero?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Guerrero is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%) and White (1.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Guerrero most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Guerrero in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (301 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Guerrero in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Guerrero a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Guerrero 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 Guerrero still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Guerrero 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 Guerrero 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.
How many people have the name Guerrero?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Guerrero at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.