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

Castaños, 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 Castaños surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Castaños in America

Castaños is the 39486th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Castaños surname appeared 557 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 Castaños.

We can also compare 2010 data for Castaños 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 Castaños

The surname Castanos is a Spanish or Portuguese topographic name derived from the word "castaño" meaning "chestnut tree." It originated in regions of Spain and Portugal where chestnut trees were abundant, such as Galicia, Asturias, and the northern parts of Portugal.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Castanos can be traced back to the 12th century in Galicia, Spain. In the Tumbo Viejo de Lugo, a medieval cartulary from the Cathedral of Lugo, there are references to individuals with the surname Castanos or similar variations like Castaño or Castanho.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in various documents from the Kingdom of Castile and León, indicating its spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula. One notable example is Pedro Castanos, a nobleman mentioned in the Libro de las Behetrías de Castilla, a medieval census of landowners and their properties.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Castanos surname gained prominence as Spanish explorers and colonists carried it to the Americas. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname in the New World was Diego de Castanos, a conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the early 16th century.

Another noteworthy figure with the Castanos surname was Juan de Castanos, a Spanish military engineer and architect who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was responsible for fortifying several cities in Spain and designing numerous military structures.

In the 18th century, José Castanos y Rodríguez (1756-1812) was a prominent Spanish military leader who played a significant role in the Peninsular War against the French armies of Napoleon.

Moving into the 19th century, Joaquín Castanos Montijano (1852-1911) was a Spanish painter known for his realistic depictions of everyday life and genre scenes.

In the 20th century, Gerardo Castanos (1912-1984) was a renowned Mexican composer and musician who contributed to the development of contemporary Mexican music.

The Castanos surname has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in regions with a strong presence of chestnut trees. It has a long and rich history, with notable individuals bearing this name across various fields, including exploration, military, architecture, art, and music.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Castaños

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

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

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