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

Ayala, 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 Ayala surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ayala in America

Ayala is the 333rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ayala surname appeared 92,463 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 31 people would have the surname Ayala.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ayala 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 Ayala

The surname Ayala originated from the Iberian Peninsula during the medieval era. It is a Spanish and Portuguese name that likely derived from the Visigothic personal name Aya, which may have meant "fortunate" or "prosperous".

Ayala was initially a place name referring to a town in the Basque region of northern Spain. Records indicate that the town's name existed as early as the 11th century. It is believed that the surname arose when people began taking on hereditary surnames based on the places they lived or originated from.

One of the earliest known references to the Ayala surname can be found in the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th-century manuscript from the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia. It mentions a nobleman named Fernán Pérez de Ayala.

In the 13th century, the Ayala family rose to prominence in the Kingdom of Castile. Garci López de Ayala (1332-1407) was a renowned Spanish scholar, poet, and chronicler who served as a diplomat for King Henry III of Castile.

During the 15th century, Iñigo López de Ayala (1425-1485) was a Spanish military leader and count who fought in the Reconquista against the Moors. He played a crucial role in the conquest of Granada in 1492.

In the 16th century, Juan de Ayala (1545-1607) was a Spanish navigator and cartographer who accompanied Sir Francis Drake on his circumnavigation of the world. He is credited with creating one of the earliest maps of the Pacific Coast of North America.

Another notable figure was Mariano Ayala (1777-1847), a Mexican military officer and politician who fought in the Mexican War of Independence against Spain. He served as the interim president of Mexico in 1837.

The Ayala surname has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly to Latin American countries due to Spanish colonization. It remains a common name in Spain, Portugal, and numerous Spanish-speaking nations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ayala

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

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

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

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