Flores last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Flores

A Spanish surname referring to someone living near or among flowers, or a flower grower or seller.

Flores, 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 Flores surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Flores in America

Flores is the 40th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Flores surname appeared 433,969 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 147 people would have the surname Flores.

We can also compare 2010 data for Flores 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 40 55 -31.58%
Count 433,969 312,615 32.51%
Proportion per 100k 147.12 115.89 23.75%

The history of the last name Flores

The surname Flores originates from Spain and Portugal, and it dates back to the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Latin word "flos," meaning flower or blossom. It was likely initially used as a descriptive nickname for someone who lived near a garden or worked with flowers.

In the 12th century, the surname Flores appeared in various historical records in Spain, such as the Fuero de Teruel, a legal code issued in 1176. It was also found in the Libro de la Montería, a hunting treatise written in the 14th century, where it referred to several places in Spain.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Flores was Rodrigo Flores, a Spanish nobleman who lived in the 13th century. He was a prominent figure in the court of King Alfonso X of Castile and León.

The surname Flores is also associated with several notable figures throughout history. For instance, Juan de Flores was a Spanish writer and translator who lived in the 15th century. He is best known for his work "Grisel y Mirabella," a sentimental novel published in 1495.

In the 16th century, the explorer and conquistador Hernán Flores participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés. He played a crucial role in the fall of the Aztec Empire and the establishment of Spanish rule in the region.

Another famous bearer of the name Flores was Eugenio Flores, a Venezuelan military leader who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spanish colonial rule in the early 19th century. He is considered a national hero in Venezuela.

In the 20th century, one of the most prominent individuals with the surname Flores was Ismael Flores, a Mexican artist known for his murals and paintings depicting indigenous Mexican culture and history. He was born in 1907 and died in 1994.

The surname Flores has also been found in various place names, such as Flores de Ávila, a municipality in Spain, and Flores, an island in the Azores archipelago of Portugal. Additionally, there are variations of the name, such as Florez and Florenz, which have similar origins and meanings.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Flores

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

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 Flores was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 4.87% 21,134
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.42% 1,823
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 2.08% 9,027
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.34% 1,475
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.36% 1,562
Hispanic Origin 91.94% 398,991

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 Flores has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 4.87% 5.57% -13.41%
Black 0.42% 0.47% -11.24%
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.08% 2.15% -3.31%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.34% 0.43% -23.38%
Two or More Races 0.36% 0.54% -40.00%
Hispanic 91.94% 90.84% 1.20%

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

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

"Flores last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 13, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/flores-surname-popularity/.

"Flores last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/flores-surname-popularity/. Accessed 13 October, 2024

Flores last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/flores-surname-popularity/.

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