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

Alvarez, 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 Alvarez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Alvarez in America

Alvarez is the 98553rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alvarez surname appeared 184 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 Alvarez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Alvarez 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 Alvarez

The surname Aluarez is of Spanish origin and can be traced back to the 12th century. It is derived from the medieval Spanish personal name Álvaro, which itself comes from the Germanic name Alwari, meaning "all true" or "all wise." The name was particularly common in the northern regions of Spain, such as Galicia and Asturias.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Aluarez can be found in a document from the year 1195, which mentions a certain Pedro Aluarez who was a landholder in the village of Villanueva, near the city of León. The spelling "Aluarez" was a common variant in medieval times, as scribes often adapted names to suit their local dialects and pronunciation.

In the 13th century, the name appears in several records of noblemen and knights who fought in the Reconquista, the long struggle to drive the Moors out of the Iberian Peninsula. One notable figure was Rodrigo Aluarez de Lara, a prominent military leader who played a key role in the conquest of Seville in 1248.

As the Spanish Empire expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Aluarez name spread to the Americas and other Spanish colonies. One of the earliest settlers in the New World was Juan Aluarez de Hinojosa, who arrived in Mexico in 1523 and later served as a governor of the province of Nueva Galicia.

In the realm of literature, the Aluarez surname is associated with the Spanish writer and poet Francisco de Quevedo y Aluarez (1580-1645), renowned for his satirical works and contributions to the Baroque literary movement in Spain.

Other noteworthy individuals bearing the Aluarez name include:

• Pedro Fernández de Aluarez (1473-1542), a Spanish explorer and navigator who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas.
• Diego Aluarez Chanca (1460-1516), a Spanish physician and writer who documented the early Spanish explorations of the Caribbean and Central America.
• María Aluarez de Toledo (1490-1549), a Spanish noblewoman and influential figure at the court of King Charles V.
• Gaspar Aluarez de Losa (1619-1688), a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary in the Philippines.
• Juan Aluarez Mendizábal (1790-1853), a Spanish politician and Prime Minister of Spain during the regency of María Cristina.

The Aluarez surname continues to be widespread in Spain and Latin American countries, reflecting its long and rich history as a name of Spanish heritage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Alvarez

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

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 Alvarez 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 Alvarez 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 Alvarez was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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