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 16544th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alvarado surname appeared 1,735 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 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 Alvardo has its origins in Spain and can be traced back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Spanish words "alvar" and "do," with "alvar" meaning a field or pasture and "do" being a common surname suffix.

Alvardo was a name associated with landowners and farmers in the northern regions of Spain, particularly in the provinces of Asturias and Cantabria. Some of the earliest recorded instances of this surname can be found in medieval documents from these areas.

One notable historical reference to the name Alvardo comes from the Codice Calixtino, a 12th-century manuscript detailing the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. This manuscript mentions an individual named Rodrigo Alvardo, who was a landowner in the region of Galicia.

In the 13th century, records show that a family by the name of Alvardo owned land near the town of Llanes in Asturias. This family's name was sometimes spelled as "Alvarodo" or "Alvarado," indicating the fluidity of surname spellings during that time.

The earliest documented individual with the surname Alvardo was Juan Alvardo, who was born in the village of Pola de Siero, Asturias, in 1312. He was a prominent landowner and farmer in the region.

Other notable individuals with the surname Alvardo throughout history include:

1. Alonso Alvardo de Mendoza (1540-1617), a Spanish conquistador and explorer who participated in the conquest of the Philippines.
2. Catalina Alvardo y Salazar (1678-1743), a renowned poet and playwright from Granada, Spain.
3. Diego Alvardo de la Cueva (1825-1891), a Spanish military officer and politician who served as the Governor of Cuba from 1864 to 1867.
4. Juana Alvardo de Mendoza (1512-1580), a Spanish noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her support of literary and artistic endeavors.
5. Pedro Alvardo de Villegas (1465-1538), a Spanish Renaissance scholar and humanist, best known for his work on Latin grammar and rhetoric.

While the surname Alvardo has its roots in northern Spain, it has since spread to other parts of the Spanish-speaking world, including Latin America, due to migration and colonization.

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.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!