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

Florida, 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 Florida surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Florida in America

Florida is the 31251st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Florida surname appeared 742 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Florida.

We can also compare 2010 data for Florida 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 Florida

The surname FLORIDA is of Spanish origin, derived from the toponym "Florida" which was the name given to the region by Juan Ponce de León in 1513. The name comes from the Spanish word "florido" meaning "full of flowers" or "flowery".

The name FLORIDA was first used as a surname by Spaniards who settled in the region of Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest recorded use of the surname dates back to the late 1500s. Some early examples include Juan de Florida, who was born in St. Augustine in 1584, and Diego de Florida, a soldier in the Spanish army who was stationed in Florida in the 1620s.

In the 18th century, the name began to spread beyond Florida as Spanish settlers and explorers carried it to other parts of the New World. For instance, José María de Florida was a prominent landowner and rancher in Mexico in the late 1700s.

One notable bearer of the surname FLORIDA was Tomás de Florida, a Spanish explorer who led expeditions into the interior of Florida in the 1670s. His detailed accounts of the region's geography and indigenous peoples are among the earliest written records of the area.

Another historical figure with the surname was Juan de Florida, a Spanish soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War on the side of the British. He was captured by American forces in 1781 and later released in a prisoner exchange.

In the 19th century, the FLORIDA name continued to be found in Spanish-speaking communities throughout the Americas. Manuel Florida was a prominent Cuban poet and journalist who lived from 1825 to 1891. Pedro Florida was a Mexican politician and diplomat who served as his country's ambassador to the United States in the 1870s.

While the name is of Spanish origin, it has also been adopted by families of other nationalities over time, particularly in areas with strong Spanish cultural influence. However, the surname remains most prevalent in Spain, Latin America, and among Hispanic communities in the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Florida

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

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

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

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