2000
#3,599
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,068
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.36
Uncommon Last name
Delagarza
A Spanish habitational surname referring to someone living near a thicket of Garza trees or near a heron rookery.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 12,556 Americans carry the last name Delagarza. That puts it at #3,215 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.66 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 27,298 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Delagarza 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
13K
1 in 27,298
Census rank
#3,215
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
11K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 10,949 bearers of the surname Delagarza in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.66 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3215th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Delagarza, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.8%) and Two or More Races (0.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Delagarza
The surname DELAGARZA originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is a locative name, derived from the Spanish words "de la" meaning "from the" and "garza" meaning "heron." This suggests that the name originally referred to someone who lived near a place where herons were found, such as a marsh or wetland area.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various Spanish documents from the 14th and 15th centuries. One notable example is Juan Delagarza, a soldier who fought in the Reconquista against the Moors in the late 15th century.
As the Spanish Empire expanded, the DELAGARZA name spread to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas during the colonial era. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name in the New World was Pedro Delagarza, a conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés during the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century.
In the 17th century, the DELAGARZA name appeared in several official records in Spain and its colonies, including the Relaciones de Méritos y Servicios, which documented the achievements and services of Spanish colonists. One prominent figure was Juana Delagarza, a landowner in New Spain (modern-day Mexico) who was involved in a legal dispute over property rights in the 1630s.
The 18th century saw the rise of several notable DELAGARZA figures, including Antonio Delagarza, a Spanish military officer who served in the Spanish Army during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). Another notable bearer of the name was María Delagarza, a renowned painter in colonial Mexico who specialized in religious art and portraiture.
In the 19th century, one of the most prominent individuals with the DELAGARZA surname was Miguel Delagarza, a Mexican politician and intellectual who played a significant role in the country's independence movement. He was born in 1789 and served as a member of the Mexican Congress during the early years of the independent Mexican nation.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delagarza
Among Census respondents with the surname Delagarza, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.8%) and Two or More Races (0.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Delagarza 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 Delagarza surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.0% · 9,961
- White7.8% · 858
- Two or more races0.4% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 29
- Black or African American0.2% · 27
Timeline
Historical Census data for Delagarza
Delagarza 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
#3,334
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,759
+1,691 bearers (+18.6%)
Per 100,000 3.65
Rank movement Up 265 places
2020
#3,215
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,949
+190 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 3.66
Rank movement Up 119 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,599 | 9,068 | 3.36 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,334 | 10,759 | 3.65 | +1,691 bearers (+18.6%) | Up 265 places |
| 2020 | #3,215 | 10,949 | 3.66 | +190 bearers (+1.8%) | Up 119 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 Delagarza 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 | #3,334 | #3,215 | 3.6% |
| Count | 10,759 | 10,949 | 1.8% |
| Per 100K | 3.65 | 3.66 | 0.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Delagarza bearers went from 10,759 to 10,949 (+1.8% change). The surname moved up 119 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,334 to #3,215.
FAQ
Delagarza surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Delagarza?
Name Census estimates that about 12,556 living Americans carry the surname Delagarza. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 27,298 residents.
How common is Delagarza?
Delagarza ranks #3,215 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.66 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 10,949 people with the surname Delagarza. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (12,556), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.66 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.66 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Delagarza.
Has Delagarza become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Delagarza went from 10,759 recorded bearers to 10,949. That is an increase of 190 (+1.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #3,334 to #3,215.
What does the Census say about the background of Delagarza?
Among Census respondents with the surname Delagarza, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.8%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Delagarza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.0% (9,961 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Delagarza appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (91.0%), White (7.8%), Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Delagarza (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 Delagarza mean?
A Spanish habitational surname referring to someone living near a thicket of Garza trees or near a heron rookery. 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 Delagarza (3.66 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 common is the surname Delagarza?
See how common the surname Delagarza is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.