2000
#6,908
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,479
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.66
Rare Last name
Balderrama
A Spanish surname derived from a place name meaning "valley of the brambles" or "bramble-covered valley."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,808 Americans carry the last name Balderrama. That puts it at #7,612 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.40 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 71,288 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Balderrama surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
4.8K
1 in 71,288
Census rank
#7,612
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,193 bearers of the surname Balderrama in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.40 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7612th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Balderrama, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Balderrama
The surname Balderrama is of Spanish origin and can be traced back to the 15th century in the region of Castile, Spain. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish term "baldar" which means "to lay fallow" or "to leave land uncultivated," and "rama" meaning "branch." This suggests that the name may have originated as a topographic surname, referring to an area of uncultivated or fallow land with branches or vegetation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Balderrama surname appears in the 1492 census records of the city of Seville, where a family by the name of Balderrama is listed as residents. This coincides with the period of the Reconquista, when many Spaniards from the northern regions, including Castile, settled in the newly conquered territories of southern Spain.
In the 16th century, the Balderrama name is found in various historical documents, including land ownership records and parish registers in the regions of Castile and Andalusia. One notable bearer of the name was Juan Balderrama, a Spanish soldier who participated in the conquest of Mexico in the early 1500s under the command of Hernán Cortés.
As the Spanish Empire expanded across the Americas, the Balderrama name traveled with the conquistadors and settlers. In the 17th century, a branch of the Balderrama family established itself in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present-day Mexico), where they became landowners and prominent figures in the local communities.
A famous bearer of the Balderrama name from this period was Pedro Balderrama, a Spanish-Mexican explorer and cartographer who was instrumental in mapping the territories of what is now Texas and the southwestern United States in the late 1600s.
In the 18th century, the Balderrama name continued to appear in various historical records, including military rolls and census documents, across Spain and its colonies in the Americas. One notable figure was Juana Balderrama, a influential landowner and philanthropist in the region of Jalisco, Mexico, known for her contributions to the establishment of schools and churches in the area.
During the 19th century, as the Spanish colonies gained independence, the Balderrama surname became more widely dispersed throughout Latin America. In Chile, a prominent figure was Andrés Balderrama, a lawyer and politician who played a key role in the drafting of the country's constitution in the 1830s.
Over the centuries, the Balderrama name has been associated with various place names and variations in spelling, such as Valderrama, Valderra, and Balderama, reflecting the regional dialects and linguistic changes across the Spanish-speaking world.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Balderrama
Among Census respondents with the surname Balderrama, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Balderrama bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Balderrama surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.7% · 3,847
- White6.5% · 274
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 21
- Two or more races0.4% · 17
- Black or African American0.2% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Balderrama
Balderrama appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#5,968
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,766
+1,287 bearers (+28.7%)
Per 100,000 1.95
Rank movement Up 940 places
2020
#7,612
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,193
-1,573 bearers (-27.3%)
Per 100,000 1.40
Rank movement Down 1,644 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,908 | 4,479 | 1.66 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,968 | 5,766 | 1.95 | +1,287 bearers (+28.7%) | Up 940 places |
| 2020 | #7,612 | 4,193 | 1.40 | -1,573 bearers (-27.3%) | Down 1,644 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Balderrama surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #5,968 | #7,612 | -27.5% |
| Count | 5,766 | 4,193 | -27.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.95 | 1.40 | -28.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Balderrama bearers went from 5,766 to 4,193 (-27.3% change). The surname moved down 1,644 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,968 to #7,612.
FAQ
Balderrama surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Balderrama?
Name Census estimates that about 4,808 living Americans carry the surname Balderrama. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 71,288 residents.
How common is Balderrama?
Balderrama ranks #7,612 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.40 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,193 people with the surname Balderrama. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,808), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.4 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.40 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Balderrama.
Has Balderrama become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Balderrama went from 5,766 recorded bearers to 4,193. That is a decrease of 1,573 (-27.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,968 to #7,612.
What does the Census say about the background of Balderrama?
Among Census respondents with the surname Balderrama, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Balderrama in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (3,847 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Balderrama appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (91.7%), White (6.5%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Balderrama (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Balderrama mean?
A Spanish surname derived from a place name meaning "valley of the brambles" or "bramble-covered valley." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Balderrama (1.40 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Balderrama?
Find out how common the surname Balderrama is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.