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

Bautista, 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 Bautista surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bautista in America

Bautista is the 558th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bautista surname appeared 60,264 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 20 people would have the surname Bautista.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bautista 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 Bautista

The surname Bautista originates from Spain and is derived from the Spanish words "bautista" meaning "baptist" and "bautizar" meaning "to baptize". It is believed to have been initially adopted as a surname by those living in areas with close ties to the Baptist Church or by those with occupations related to baptism.

In the early days of surname adoption in Spain, during the 12th and 13th centuries, Bautista would have been an occupational surname given to those involved in baptismal ceremonies or those residing near Baptist churches. It may have also been used as a descriptive surname for someone particularly devoted to the Baptist faith.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Bautista can be found in the Libro de la Montería, a 14th-century hunting treatise commissioned by King Alfonso XI of Castile. The document mentions a Gonzalo Bautista, a member of the king's hunting party.

During the 16th century, the Bautista surname appeared in various Spanish records, including the Matrículas de Conversós, which documented converts from Judaism to Christianity. In 1492, following the Reconquista and the Alhambra Decree, many Sephardic Jews were forced to convert or face expulsion from Spain, potentially leading some to adopt the surname Bautista.

Notable individuals with the surname Bautista throughout history include:

1. Juan Bautista Villalpando (1552-1608), a Spanish Jesuit priest, architect, and biblical scholar known for his work on the reconstruction of Solomon's Temple.

2. Juan Bautista de Anza (1736-1788), a Spanish-born explorer and military officer who led expeditions to establish settlements in present-day California and Arizona.

3. Juan Bautista Viteri (1774-1843), an Ecuadorian lawyer, politician, and one of the drafters of Ecuador's first constitution.

4. Julián Bautista (1901-1961), a Spanish painter and sculptor known for his cubist works and association with the Valencian avant-garde movement.

5. Juan Bautista Sacasa (1874-1946), a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 16th President of Nicaragua from 1933 to 1936.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bautista

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

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

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

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