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

Fontes, 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 Fontes surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fontes in America

Fontes is the 7437th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fontes surname appeared 4,478 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 Fontes.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fontes 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 Fontes

The surname Fontes has its origins in Portugal, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Portuguese word "fonte," meaning "fountain" or "spring." This name likely referred to someone who lived near a water source or a prominent fountain.

The earliest recorded instances of the Fontes surname can be traced back to the 13th century. In 1258, a document from the Monastery of Alcobaça mentions a certain "Petrus Fontes," suggesting the surname was already in use at that time.

During the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries, many Portuguese explorers and navigators bore the surname Fontes. One notable figure was Bartolomeu Fontes, a navigator who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his historic voyage to India in 1497-1499.

The Fontes surname also appears in historical records related to the Portuguese colonization of Brazil. In the 16th century, Pedro de Fontes was one of the first settlers and landowners in the captaincy of Pernambuco, playing a role in the early development of the region.

Another notable individual with this surname was Mateus de Fontes Pereira, a Portuguese military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Portuguese India from 1629 to 1633.

In the realm of literature, the name Fontes is associated with the 19th-century Portuguese writer and journalist Joaquim da Costa Fontes, born in 1824 and known for his contributions to the development of the Portuguese press.

Moving into the 20th century, one prominent figure with the Fontes surname was Henrique de Carvalho Fontes, a Portuguese lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of Justice and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the early 1900s.

While the Fontes surname is predominantly Portuguese in origin, it has also been adopted in other regions, particularly in Brazil and other former Portuguese colonies, due to the country's colonial history and migration patterns.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fontes

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

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

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

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