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

Garcia, 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 Garcia surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Garcia in America

Garcia is the 6th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Garcia surname appeared 1,166,120 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 395 people would have the surname Garcia.

We can also compare 2010 data for Garcia 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 Garcia

The surname Garcia is of Spanish origin, derived from the personal name García, which comes from the Basque word "gartzia" meaning "bear cub" or "young bear." It is one of the most common surnames in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries.

The name's earliest known bearer was García Fernández, Count of Castile, who lived in the 10th century. Records of the surname date back to the 11th century, making it one of the oldest Spanish surnames still in use today.

In the 13th century, the surname Garcia appeared in the Repartimiento de Sevilla, a manuscript detailing the distribution of land and property in Seville after its reconquest from the Moors in 1248. This document contains numerous references to individuals bearing the surname Garcia.

One of the earliest notable figures with the surname Garcia was Pedro García de Herrera, a 14th-century Spanish mariner and cartographer who worked on the famous Catalan Atlas. Another notable bearer was Alonso García de Ramón, a 15th-century Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés.

During the 16th century, several individuals with the surname Garcia made significant contributions to Spanish literature and culture. These include the poet and dramatist Diego García de Paredes (1466-1530) and the writer and humanist Pedro García de la Huerta (1516-1584).

In the 17th century, Francisco García de Salcedo Coronel (1590-1675) was a Spanish military officer and author known for his work "Noticias de Madrid" (News of Madrid), which provided valuable insights into life in the Spanish capital during that era.

Over the centuries, the surname Garcia has been carried by many notable individuals across various fields, including the 19th-century Mexican writer and politician Manuel García Vigil (1835-1915) and the 20th-century Spanish painter and sculptor Antonio García Quintana (1904-1972).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Garcia

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

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

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

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