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

DeLeon, 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 DeLeon surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of DeLeon in America

DeLeon is the 359th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The DeLeon surname appeared 87,414 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 30 people would have the surname DeLeon.

We can also compare 2010 data for DeLeon 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 DeLeon

The surname Deleon originates from Spain and dates back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish city of León, which was an important center during the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. The name likely referred to someone who hailed from or had some association with this city.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Deleon can be found in the Fuero de León, a legal code issued in 1020 by Alfonso V, King of León, which mentions individuals with this surname. The surname also appears in various medieval Spanish manuscripts and records, such as the Becerro de las Behetrías, a 14th-century census of landowners in the region of León.

The variant spelling "De León" is often seen in historical documents, reflecting the Spanish practice of using the preposition "de" (meaning "from") before place names to indicate one's origin. This spelling can be found in records from as early as the 13th century.

One notable bearer of the Deleon surname was Fray Andrés de León, a 16th-century Spanish missionary and explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico in 1519. He is credited with introducing Christianity to parts of Central America.

In the 17th century, Juan de León y Arango (1592-1659) was a prominent Spanish soldier and governor of Cuba, while in the following century, Sebastián de León y Dávalos (1639-1708) was a Spanish military engineer and architect who designed several fortifications in Spain and the Americas.

Another famous Deleon was María Isidra de Guzmán y de la Cerda (1768-1803), a Spanish noblewoman who was a leading figure in the defense of Saragossa during the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France.

As the Spanish Empire expanded, the Deleon surname spread to various parts of the Americas, particularly Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America, where it continues to be prevalent today among those of Hispanic descent.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name DeLeon

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of DeLeon, please contact us.

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