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

Garza, 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 Garza surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Garza in America

Garza is the 186th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Garza surname appeared 147,005 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 50 people would have the surname Garza.

We can also compare 2010 data for Garza 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 Garza

The surname Garza originated in Spain and is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "garza," meaning "heron." This avian connection suggests that the name may have initially been used as a nickname or descriptive name for someone who bore a resemblance to the long-legged wading bird or perhaps someone who lived near a body of water frequented by herons.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Garza can be traced back to the 13th century in the Iberian Peninsula. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Pedro de Garza, a knight who fought alongside King Alfonso X of Castile during the Reconquista in the mid-13th century.

In the 15th century, the Garza family held significant land and power in the northern Spanish region of Cantabria. The Garza coat of arms, featuring three silver herons on a blue field, was documented in the Libro de Armería, a historical record of Spanish noble families compiled in the late 15th century.

As the Spanish Empire expanded into the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Garza surname traveled with colonists and conquistadors to the New World. Notable early bearers of the name included Alonso de Garza, a soldier who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the 1520s, and Francisca de Garza, one of the earliest settlers in what is now the state of Texas in the late 17th century.

Throughout the colonial era, the Garza name was particularly prevalent in various regions of Mexico, with concentrations in areas such as Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. Iconic figures bearing the surname include José María Garza Galán (1786-1862), a Mexican general and politician who fought in the Mexican War of Independence, and Cristóbal Garza (1856-1935), a Mexican rancher and landowner who played a significant role in the early development of the Rio Grande Valley region.

In the United States, the Garza name has been present since the early days of Spanish settlement in areas like California, Texas, and New Mexico. One of the earliest recorded instances is Juan Garza, a soldier and explorer who accompanied Juan de Oñate's expedition to establish the first Spanish settlement in present-day New Mexico in 1598.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Garza

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

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

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

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