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

Beniquez, 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 Beniquez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Beniquez in America

Beniquez is the 60045th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Beniquez surname appeared 336 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Beniquez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Beniquez 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 Beniquez

The surname Beniquez is believed to have originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the Spanish word "benitez," which means "son of Benito." The name Benito itself is a Spanish form of the Latin name Benedictus, meaning "blessed."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Beniquez can be found in the Catalan region of Spain during the 13th century. The name appears in various historical documents, including tax records and land registries, suggesting that it was relatively widespread among the Spanish population at that time.

In the 15th century, a notable figure named Juan Beniquez was a prominent military commander who fought in the Reconquista, the centuries-long campaign to retake the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. Juan Beniquez was born in 1431 in Seville and played a crucial role in the capture of Granada in 1492, marking the end of the Reconquista.

Another notable individual with the surname Beniquez was Hernán Beniquez, a Spanish explorer and conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expeditions to Mexico in the early 16th century. Hernán Beniquez was born in 1498 in Extremadura and participated in the conquest of the Aztec Empire, playing a role in the fall of Tenochtitlán in 1521.

In the 17th century, the surname Beniquez appeared in various parts of the Spanish colonial empire, including the Americas and the Philippines. One notable figure from this period was Diego Beniquez, a Spanish missionary who travelled to the Philippines in the 1620s to spread Christianity. He established several missions and played a significant role in the evangelization of the indigenous population.

Another notable figure with the surname Beniquez was María Beniquez, a Spanish noblewoman who lived in the 18th century. She was born in 1724 in Seville and was renowned for her philanthropic efforts, establishing several charitable institutions and supporting the education of underprivileged children.

As the Spanish Empire expanded, the surname Beniquez likely spread to other parts of the world, although its prevalence and distribution varied across different regions and time periods. While the name has undergone various spelling variations over the centuries, its origins can be traced back to the medieval period in Spain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Beniquez

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Beniquez, 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!