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

Alvarado, 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 Alvarado surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Alvarado in America

Alvarado is the 219th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alvarado surname appeared 133,501 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 45 people would have the surname Alvarado.

We can also compare 2010 data for Alvarado 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 Alvarado

The surname Alvarado originated in Spain and is derived from the Spanish phrase "al varado", meaning "by the ford" or "near the river crossing". This name likely originated in the medieval period when people were identified by where they lived or worked.

Historically, the name can be traced back to the 13th century in the region of Castile, Spain. Some of the earliest records of the name appear in documents from the city of Burgos, which was an important center of power during the reign of King Alfonso X, known as "El Sabio" (The Wise).

One notable early bearer of the name was Rodrigo Alvarado, a soldier who fought alongside El Cid during the Reconquista, the Christian conquest of Spain from the Moors in the 11th and 12th centuries. Rodrigo Alvarado's name appears in the poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid", an epic work documenting the life of El Cid.

In the 16th century, the Alvarado name gained prominence with Pedro de Alvarado, a Spanish conquistador who led expeditions in Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Born in 1485 in Badajoz, Spain, he was a close associate of Hernán Cortés and played a key role in the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Another notable figure was Alonso de Alvarado, a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was part of the expedition led by Francisco Pizarro that conquered the Inca Empire in Peru in the 1530s. He was born around 1500 in Burgos, Spain.

In the 18th century, José Antonio de Alvarado y Navia-Bolaño was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the 40th viceroy of New Spain (present-day Mexico) from 1710 to 1722. He was born in 1668 in Seville, Spain.

As the name spread throughout the Spanish Empire, it became prominent in Latin America, particularly in Mexico, Guatemala, and other parts of Central America. Some well-known historical figures with the Alvarado surname from this region include Juan Bautista Alvarado, a Mexican politician and military officer who served as the governor of California from 1836 to 1842, and Pedro Alvarado, a Guatemalan revolutionary and politician who served as the 17th President of Guatemala from 1822 to 1823.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Alvarado

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

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

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

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