2000
#13,012
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,160
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.80
Rare Last name
Gerena
A Spanish surname derived from a place name, possibly referring to a sandy or rocky area.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,647 Americans carry the last name Gerena. That puts it at #12,762 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.77 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 129,488 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gerena surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.6K
1 in 129,488
Census rank
#12,762
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,308 bearers of the surname Gerena in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.77 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12762nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gerena, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.7%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Black (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gerena
The surname Gerena is of Spanish origin and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have originated in the northern regions of Spain, particularly in the Basque Country and the regions of Navarre and Aragon.
The name Gerena is thought to derive from the Basque word "geren," which means "ours" or "belonging to us." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a collective or community ownership of land or property. Alternatively, it could be a variation of the Spanish word "gerencia," meaning "management" or "administration," potentially indicating an occupation or profession.
Early records of the name Gerena can be found in medieval documents and charters from the 13th and 14th centuries. For instance, a document from the Monasterio de San Salvador de Leyre in Navarre, dated 1287, mentions a certain Sancho Gerena as a witness. Another document from the Archivo de la Corona de Aragón, dated 1354, refers to a Juan Gerena as a landowner in the village of Igriés.
The earliest known recorded instance of the name Gerena is found in the Becerro de las Behetrías de Castilla, a census of landowners and vassals in the Kingdom of Castile, compiled between 1352 and 1354. This document lists several individuals with the surname Gerena, including Pedro Gerena from the town of Quintanapalla and Martín Gerena from the village of Villanueva de las Carretas.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Gerena. One prominent figure was Juan Gerena y Ponce de León (1592-1678), a Spanish military officer and governor of Puerto Rico from 1653 to 1659. Another notable bearer of the name was María Gerena (1615-1692), a Spanish nun and mystic who founded the Convent of the Purísima Concepción in Seville.
In the 19th century, José Gerena y García (1823-1892) was a prominent Cuban lawyer, politician, and advocate for Cuban independence from Spain. Francisco Gerena (1845-1914) was a Spanish painter known for his landscapes and genre scenes depicting rural life in Aragon.
More recently, Victor Gerena (born 1958) was a former member of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN), a Puerto Rican nationalist group, who carried out one of the largest cash robberies in United States history in 1983 and has been a fugitive since then.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gerena
Among Census respondents with the surname Gerena, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.7%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Black (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Gerena bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Gerena surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.7% · 2,048
- White8.1% · 186
- Black or African American1.7% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 26
- Two or more races0.3% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gerena
Gerena appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#11,066
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,871
+711 bearers (+32.9%)
Per 100,000 0.97
Rank movement Up 1,946 places
2020
#12,762
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,308
-563 bearers (-19.6%)
Per 100,000 0.77
Rank movement Down 1,696 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,012 | 2,160 | 0.80 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,066 | 2,871 | 0.97 | +711 bearers (+32.9%) | Up 1,946 places |
| 2020 | #12,762 | 2,308 | 0.77 | -563 bearers (-19.6%) | Down 1,696 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Gerena surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #11,066 | #12,762 | -15.3% |
| Count | 2,871 | 2,308 | -19.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.97 | 0.77 | -20.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gerena bearers went from 2,871 to 2,308 (-19.6% change). The surname moved down 1,696 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,066 to #12,762.
FAQ
Gerena surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gerena?
Name Census estimates that about 2,647 living Americans carry the surname Gerena. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 129,488 residents.
How common is Gerena?
Gerena ranks #12,762 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.77 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,308 people with the surname Gerena. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,647), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.77 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.77 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Gerena.
Has Gerena become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gerena went from 2,871 recorded bearers to 2,308. That is a decrease of 563 (-19.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,066 to #12,762.
What does the Census say about the background of Gerena?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gerena, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.7%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Black (1.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gerena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.7% (2,048 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gerena appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (88.7%), White (8.1%), Black (1.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Gerena (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Gerena mean?
A Spanish surname derived from a place name, possibly referring to a sandy or rocky area. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Gerena (0.77 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Gerena?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.