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

Alvares, 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 Alvares surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Alvares in America

Alvares is the 8673rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alvares surname appeared 3,789 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 Alvares.

We can also compare 2010 data for Alvares 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 Alvares

The surname Alvares has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in Portugal and Spain, where it originated during the medieval period. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Alvarus, which was a compound name formed from the elements "alf" meaning "elf" and "wari" meaning "guard" or "protector."

One of the earliest known records of the name Alvares can be found in the Cartulário do Mosteiro de Pendorada, a medieval Portuguese cartulary dating back to the 11th century. This document contains references to individuals with the surname Alvares, indicating their presence in the region during that time.

In Spain, the name Alvares appeared in various historical documents, such as the Anales Toledanos, a chronicle from the 13th century that mentions individuals with this surname. The earliest recorded bearer of the name in Spain was Alvar Núñez Álvares, a noble from the Kingdom of León who lived in the 11th century.

Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the surname Alvares. One of the most prominent was Afonso Alvares, a Portuguese explorer and navigator who lived from around 1285 to 1357. He is credited with discovering the Canary Islands in 1341 and played a significant role in the early stages of Portuguese maritime exploration.

Another distinguished individual with the surname Alvares was Manuel Alvares, a Portuguese Jesuit priest and grammarian who lived from 1526 to 1583. He is best known for his influential work on the grammar of the Portuguese language, "De Institutione Grammatica Libri Tres," published in 1572.

In the literary realm, Gonçalo Álvares, a Portuguese poet and chronicler who lived from around 1360 to 1428, is noteworthy for his work "Crónica do Infante Santo D. Fernando," a chronicle of the life of Prince Ferdinand of Portugal.

The surname Alvares also has connections to place names in the Iberian Peninsula. For example, the town of Álvares in northern Portugal is believed to have derived its name from the surname, reflecting the presence of families with this surname in the area.

Towards the end of the 15th century, with the Age of Discovery and the expansion of the Portuguese Empire, the surname Alvares spread to other parts of the world, particularly to Portuguese colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, where it continues to be found among descendants of Portuguese settlers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Alvares

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

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

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

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