2000
#1,427
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 22,941
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.50
Uncommon Last name
Barrios
A Spanish toponymic surname indicating a person who lived in or came from a village or neighborhood.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 38,361 Americans carry the last name Barrios. That puts it at #1,031 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 11.19 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 8,935 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Barrios 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
38K
1 in 8,935
Census rank
#1,031
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
11.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
33K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 33,453 bearers of the surname Barrios in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 11.19 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1031st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Barrios, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Barrios
The surname Barrios has its origins in Spain and can be traced back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Spanish word "barrio," which means "neighborhood" or "district." This suggests that the name was originally given to someone who lived in a particular neighborhood or area.
The earliest known mention of the name dates back to the late 12th century in the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a collection of medieval documents from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain. This reference is to a person named Domingo Barrios, who was a landowner in the region.
During the 13th century, the name began to appear more frequently in various records and manuscripts across Spain. One notable example is the Libro de la Montería, a hunting treatise written by King Alfonso XI of Castile in the 14th century, which mentions several individuals with the surname Barrios.
In the 16th century, the name Barrios was found in the census records of the city of Seville, indicating that it was well-established in Andalusia by that time. One of the earliest known individuals with this surname was Juan de Barrios, a Spanish poet and playwright who lived from around 1525 to 1590.
As the Spanish Empire expanded, the surname Barrios was carried to the Americas and other parts of the world. In the 17th century, Pedro Barrios Avellaneda, a Spanish soldier and explorer, was one of the first Europeans to document his journey through the Amazon River basin.
Another notable figure with the surname Barrios was Manuel Barrios, a Mexican military leader and politician who played a significant role in the Mexican War of Independence in the early 19th century. He served as the governor of the State of Mexico from 1824 to 1827.
In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the surname Barrios was Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales, a Guatemalan writer and diplomat who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967. He was born in 1899 and died in 1974.
Throughout history, the surname Barrios has been found in various spellings, such as Barrio, Barrius, and Barrous, reflecting the regional variations and evolution of the name over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Barrios
Among Census respondents with the surname Barrios, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Barrios 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 Barrios surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.8% · 30,040
- White7.5% · 2,496
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 483
- Black or African American0.5% · 163
- Two or more races0.4% · 138
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 133
Timeline
Historical Census data for Barrios
Barrios 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
#1,067
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 32,873
+9,932 bearers (+43.3%)
Per 100,000 11.14
Rank movement Up 360 places
2020
#1,031
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 33,453
+580 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 11.19
Rank movement Up 36 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,427 | 22,941 | 8.50 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,067 | 32,873 | 11.14 | +9,932 bearers (+43.3%) | Up 360 places |
| 2020 | #1,031 | 33,453 | 11.19 | +580 bearers (+1.8%) | Up 36 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 Barrios 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 | #1,067 | #1,031 | 3.4% |
| Count | 32,873 | 33,453 | 1.8% |
| Per 100K | 11.14 | 11.19 | 0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Barrios bearers went from 32,873 to 33,453 (+1.8% change). The surname moved up 36 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,067 to #1,031.
FAQ
Barrios surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Barrios?
Name Census estimates that about 38,361 living Americans carry the surname Barrios. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 8,935 residents.
How common is Barrios?
Barrios ranks #1,031 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 11.19 per 100,000 residents, which is about 11 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 33,453 people with the surname Barrios. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (38,361), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 11.19 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 11.19 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 11 of them to have the surname Barrios.
Has Barrios become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Barrios went from 32,873 recorded bearers to 33,453. That is an increase of 580 (+1.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #1,067 to #1,031.
What does the Census say about the background of Barrios?
Among Census respondents with the surname Barrios, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Barrios in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (30,040 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Barrios appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (89.8%), White (7.5%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Barrios (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 Barrios mean?
A Spanish toponymic surname indicating a person who lived in or came from a village or neighborhood. 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 Barrios (11.19 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 have the surname Barrios?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.