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

Colorado, 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 Colorado surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Colorado in America

Colorado is the 11810th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Colorado surname appeared 2,650 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Colorado.

We can also compare 2010 data for Colorado 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 Colorado

The surname Colorado has its origins in the Spanish language and can be traced back to the 16th century. It is derived from the word "colorado," which means "red" or "ruddy" in Spanish, referring to the reddish-brown color of the soil found in certain regions of Spain.

The surname likely originated in the areas of Spain with a significant presence of reddish-colored soil, such as Andalusia or certain parts of Castile. It may have been initially used as a descriptive name for people associated with these regions or who had a reddish complexion.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, as Spanish exploration and colonization expanded to the Americas, the surname Colorado began to appear in various Spanish colonial records and documents. One notable example is Juan Colorado, a Spanish explorer born in 1538, who participated in expeditions to the southwestern regions of what is now the United States.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Colorado can be found in Spanish parish records and municipal archives dating back to the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Some of the earliest known individuals with this surname include Diego Colorado, a landowner in Seville, Spain, in the late 15th century, and Pedro Colorado, a merchant from Cordoba, Spain, in the early 16th century.

Throughout history, several prominent individuals have borne the surname Colorado. One notable figure is Luis Colorado, a Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary born in 1548, who worked among indigenous communities in Mexico and authored several works on their languages and customs.

Another notable individual is Pedro Colorado, a Spanish military commander born in 1575, who played a significant role in the Spanish conquest of the Philippines and served as the Governor of the Philippine Islands from 1621 to 1625.

In the realm of literature, Juan Colorado y Rosas, born in 1667, was a Spanish poet and playwright whose works contributed to the Golden Age of Spanish literature.

Additionally, Francisco Colorado, born in 1792, was a Spanish painter known for his religious works and portraits, and his artwork can be found in various churches and museums across Spain.

The surname Colorado has also been associated with place names in some regions, such as the state of Colorado in the United States, which derives its name from the Spanish word "colorado" and the reddish-colored landscapes found in parts of the state.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Colorado

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

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

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