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

Francisco, 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 Francisco surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Francisco in America

Francisco is the 1481st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Francisco surname appeared 24,095 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Francisco.

We can also compare 2010 data for Francisco 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 Francisco

The surname Francisco originated in Italy and Spain, derived from the Italian and Spanish given name Francesco, which is itself derived from the Latin name Franciscus. The name Franciscus is believed to have its roots in the Latin phrase "Francus," meaning "free" or "Frenchman."

Francisco is a patronymic surname, meaning it was originally formed by adding a suffix to the given name Francesco, indicating "son of Francesco." This practice of forming surnames from the father's given name was common in many European cultures during the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Francisco can be found in the 13th century in the Libro del Repartimiento, a document detailing the distribution of land and properties in the Kingdom of Valencia, Spain, after its reconquest from the Moors in 1238.

In the 14th century, the surname Francisco appeared in various Italian records, such as the Codice Diplomatico Padovano, a collection of documents from the city of Padua. Additionally, the name was mentioned in the Catasto Fiorentino, a census of the city of Florence, conducted in the early 15th century.

Notable individuals with the surname Francisco throughout history include:

1. Friar Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483-1546), a Spanish Renaissance philosopher and theologian, considered one of the founders of international law.
2. Francisco Pizarro (c. 1476-1541), a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that resulted in the fall of the Inca Empire and the conquest of modern-day Peru.
3. Francisco Goya (1746-1828), a renowned Spanish romantic painter and printmaker, regarded as one of the greatest artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
4. Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645), a Spanish poet, satirist, and playwright, considered one of the most prominent figures in the Spanish Golden Age of literature.
5. Francisco de Orellana (c. 1511-1546), a Spanish explorer and conquistador, known for leading the first European expedition to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River.

The surname Francisco has been associated with various place names and older spellings throughout its history, such as Franceschi, Franceschi, and Franceschi, which were common in Italy, and Francés, Francés, and Francés, which were prevalent in Spain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Francisco

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

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

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

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