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 92nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Alvarez surname appeared 233,983 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 79 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 Alvarez has its roots in Spain, originating from the medieval Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It is a patronymic surname, derived from the personal name Álvaro, which itself comes from the Germanic name Alvar, meaning "elf warrior" or "elf counsel."

Alvarez first appeared in historical records in the 9th century, when the name was written as "Alvárez" or "Álvarez." It was prevalent in the regions of Galicia, Asturias, and León, where it was borne by members of the nobility and landed gentry.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the "Cartulario de Celanova," a 10th-century manuscript from the Monastery of Celanova in Galicia. This document mentions an individual named "Alvaro Vermudez," whose name would later evolve into the modern form of Alvarez.

During the Reconquista, the period when Christian kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula fought to reclaim territory from the Moors, several notable figures bore the name Alvarez. One such individual was Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, a 14th-century military commander who played a crucial role in the conquest of Granada.

In the 15th century, the name Alvarez gained prominence through the exploits of Alonso de Ojeda and Juan de la Cosa, two navigators and explorers who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his voyages to the New World. Ojeda, in particular, was instrumental in the exploration and settlement of the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America.

As the Spanish Empire expanded, the name Alvarez spread to the Americas and other regions of the world. Notable individuals with this surname include José Álvarez de Toledo, a 16th-century Spanish colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Philippines, and Diego de Alvarez Chanca, a physician and writer who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas and documented the first recorded cases of syphilis in Europe.

In the realm of arts and literature, the name Alvarez is associated with figures such as José María Heredia y Heredia (1803-1839), a Cuban poet and writer who was part of the Romantic movement, and Gustavo Adolfo Álvarez Gardeazábal (1945-1999), a Colombian writer and journalist known for his works on human rights and social issues.

Other notable individuals with the surname Alvarez include Walter Alvarez (1940-2018), an American geologist who co-developed the theory that an asteroid impact caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs, and Álvaro Álvarez Guedes (1940-2012), a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as the Minister of the Interior during the Spanish transition to democracy.

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.

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!