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

Gonzalez, 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 Gonzalez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gonzalez in America

Gonzalez is the 59470th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gonzalez surname appeared 340 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Gonzalez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gonzalez 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 Gonzalez

The surname Gongalez is of Spanish origin, derived from the personal name Gonzalo, which is itself a Germanic name composed of the elements "gund" meaning "battle" and "salt" meaning "noble." The name likely emerged during the period of the Visigothic Kingdom in Iberia, which lasted from the 5th to the 8th century.

Gongalez is a variant spelling of the more common Spanish surname Gonzalez, which is thought to have first appeared in the northern regions of Spain, particularly in the regions of Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria. The earliest recorded instances of the name Gongalez can be found in medieval Spanish documents and records from the 10th and 11th centuries.

One notable early bearer of the name was Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1453-1515), a Spanish military leader and diplomat who was known as "El Gran Capitán" (The Great Captain) for his military prowess during the Italian Wars. Another prominent figure was Tomás de Gongalez (1531-1591), a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary who played a significant role in the evangelization of the Philippines.

During the Spanish colonial period, the surname Gongalez spread across the Spanish territories, including the Americas and the Philippines. One notable bearer of the name from this era was José Gongalez Cabrera Bueno (1759-1833), a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Chile from 1823 to 1825.

In the literary world, one of the most famous bearers of the surname Gongalez was Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681), a celebrated Spanish playwright and poet of the Spanish Golden Age. His works, such as "Life Is a Dream" and "The Constant Prince," are considered masterpieces of Spanish literature.

Another notable figure with the surname Gongalez was Manuel Gongalez Prada (1848-1918), a Peruvian writer, philosopher, and political activist who is considered one of the most influential thinkers of Latin America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gonzalez

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

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

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

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