Find out how popular the last name Alférez is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Alférez.

Alférez, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Alférez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Alférez in America

Alférez is the 24288th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alférez surname appeared 1,033 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Alférez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Alférez to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Alférez

The surname "ALFEREZ" is of Spanish origin, derived from the military rank of "Alférez" which translates to "Ensign" or "Standard Bearer" in English. This name can be traced back to the 15th century during the height of the Spanish Empire.

The name likely originated from the Arabic term "al-Farras" which means "the knight" or "the horseman". As the Moors occupied parts of Spain for several centuries, many Arabic words found their way into the Spanish language, including this term which eventually evolved into "Alférez".

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alferez can be found in the 1492 military records of the Spanish Reconquista, where a certain Pedro Alferez is mentioned as a standard bearer for the Castilian forces during the siege of Granada.

In the 16th century, Juan Alferez was a renowned explorer and navigator who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to conquer the Aztec Empire in present-day Mexico.

During the 17th century, a notable figure with the name Alferez was Diego Alferez, a Spanish painter and engraver known for his religious artwork and portraits of nobility.

In the 18th century, Antonio Alferez was a prominent architect who designed several churches and government buildings in the Spanish colonies of South America.

One of the most famous bearers of the name Alferez was Miguel Alferez (1781-1865), a Spanish general and politician who played a significant role in the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France.

The surname Alferez is still relatively common in Spain, as well as in Latin American countries with a strong Spanish colonial influence, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Peru.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Alférez

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Alférez.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Alférez was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Alférez has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Alférez was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Alférez, please contact us.

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