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

Esteban, 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 Esteban surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Esteban in America

Esteban is the 6480th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Esteban surname appeared 5,240 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Esteban.

We can also compare 2010 data for Esteban 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 Esteban

The surname Esteban has its origins in Spain, dating back to the medieval period. It is a Spanish form of the Greek name Stephanos, which means "crown" or "wreath." The name was likely brought to the Iberian Peninsula during the Roman occupation and later became popular among the Hispanic population.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Esteban surname can be found in the "Libro de la Montería" (Book of the Hunt), a 14th-century manuscript detailing the hunting expeditions of King Alfonso XI of Castile. The text mentions a certain Pero Esteban, who was a prominent huntsman and landowner in the region of Extremadura.

In the 15th century, the Esteban family played a significant role in the conquest of the Canary Islands. Juan Esteban de Llerena, a nobleman from Seville, was appointed as the first governor of the island of La Palma in 1493 by the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon.

During the Age of Exploration, several individuals bearing the Esteban surname made notable contributions. One such figure was Andrés Esteban de Narvarte, a Spanish navigator and explorer who participated in the expeditions of Álvaro de Mendaña to the Solomon Islands in the late 16th century.

In the realm of literature, Francisco Esteban Gómez was a prominent Spanish poet and playwright of the 17th century. He was born in Seville in 1577 and is best known for his works "Las Hazañas del Marqués de Cañete" (The Exploits of the Marquis of Cañete) and "El Rufián Dichoso" (The Fortunate Ruffian).

Another notable figure with the Esteban surname was José Esteban Muñoz, a Spanish military officer and politician who played a significant role in the Spanish American wars of independence. He served as the last Spanish governor of Chile from 1808 to 1810.

In more recent times, the Esteban surname has been carried by individuals from various walks of life. One such person was Pablo Esteban Muñoz Vega, a Chilean architect and academic who was instrumental in the development of modern architecture in his country during the 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Esteban

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

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

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