2000
#1,697
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 19,375
First available Census row
Per 100,000 7.18
Uncommon Last name
Carranza
A Spanish habitational surname referring to someone from any of several places named Carranza, meaning "bramble-covered place."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 31,913 Americans carry the last name Carranza. That puts it at #1,244 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 9.31 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 10,740 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Carranza 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
32K
1 in 10,740
Census rank
#1,244
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
9.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
28K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 27,830 bearers of the surname Carranza in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 9.31 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1244th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Carranza, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Carranza
The surname Carranza is of Spanish origin, deriving from the Basque region of northern Spain. It first emerged in the 9th century AD as a locational surname, indicating that the original bearers hailed from the town or village of Carranza in the province of Vizcaya.
The name Carranza itself is believed to have evolved from the Basque words "karr," meaning rock or stone, and "antz," meaning appearance or resemblance. Thus, the surname may have originally referred to someone who lived near a prominent rocky or stony area.
Historically, the Carranza name has been recorded in various medieval documents and manuscripts from the Basque region. One notable early mention is found in the Becerro Antiguo de Vizcaya, a 14th-century census document that lists several individuals bearing the Carranza surname.
Among the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Carranza was Pedro Carranza, a Basque explorer and navigator who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. Another early bearer of the name was Bartolomé de Carranza, a 16th-century Spanish theologian and archbishop of Toledo, who was born in 1503 and died in 1576.
In the 17th century, Diego Sarmiento Carranza served as the viceroy of New Spain (present-day Mexico) from 1635 to 1642. A century later, José Miguel de Carranza y Arellano (1724-1786) was a Spanish military engineer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of fortification design.
During the 19th century, Venustiano Carranza (1859-1920) was a prominent Mexican revolutionary and politician who served as the 37th President of Mexico from 1917 to 1920. His leadership was instrumental in shaping the country's post-revolutionary government and constitutional reforms.
Throughout history, the Carranza surname has maintained its strong ties to its Basque origins, though bearers of the name can be found worldwide, particularly in Spain, Mexico, and other parts of Latin America.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carranza
Among Census respondents with the surname Carranza, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Carranza 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 Carranza surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.1% · 26,178
- White4.2% · 1,161
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 291
- Two or more races0.3% · 83
- Black or African American0.3% · 71
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 46
Timeline
Historical Census data for Carranza
Carranza 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
#1,235
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 28,581
+9,206 bearers (+47.5%)
Per 100,000 9.69
Rank movement Up 462 places
2020
#1,244
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 27,830
-751 bearers (-2.6%)
Per 100,000 9.31
Rank movement Down 9 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,697 | 19,375 | 7.18 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,235 | 28,581 | 9.69 | +9,206 bearers (+47.5%) | Up 462 places |
| 2020 | #1,244 | 27,830 | 9.31 | -751 bearers (-2.6%) | Down 9 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 Carranza 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 | #1,235 | #1,244 | -0.7% |
| Count | 28,581 | 27,830 | -2.6% |
| Per 100K | 9.69 | 9.31 | -3.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Carranza bearers went from 28,581 to 27,830 (-2.6% change). The surname moved down 9 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,235 to #1,244.
FAQ
Carranza surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Carranza?
Name Census estimates that about 31,913 living Americans carry the surname Carranza. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 10,740 residents.
How common is Carranza?
Carranza ranks #1,244 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 9.31 per 100,000 residents, which is about 9 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 27,830 people with the surname Carranza. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (31,913), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 9.31 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 9.31 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 9 of them to have the surname Carranza.
Has Carranza become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Carranza went from 28,581 recorded bearers to 27,830. That is a decrease of 751 (-2.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,235 to #1,244.
What does the Census say about the background of Carranza?
Among Census respondents with the surname Carranza, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (4.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Carranza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (26,178 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Carranza appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (94.1%), White (4.2%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Carranza (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 Carranza mean?
A Spanish habitational surname referring to someone from any of several places named Carranza, meaning "bramble-covered place." 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 Carranza (9.31 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 Carranza?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.