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

Gonsales, 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 Gonsales surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gonsales in America

Gonsales is the 11095th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gonsales surname appeared 2,861 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Gonsales.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gonsales 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 Gonsales

The surname Gonsales has its origins in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in Spain and Portugal. It is believed to have derived from the medieval Spanish personal name Gonzalo, which itself has its roots in the Visigothic name Gundisalvus.

Gundisalvus is a compound name, comprising the Germanic elements "gund" (battle) and "salv" (whole or safe). This suggests that the name Gonsales originally referred to someone who was a "whole or safe warrior" or someone who was "safe in battle."

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Gonsales date back to the 12th century in various Spanish and Portuguese medieval records and manuscripts. One notable early bearer of the name was Pedro Gonsales, a 13th-century Spanish nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors.

As the Gonsales surname spread across the Iberian Peninsula and beyond, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Gonzalez, Gonçalves, and Goncalves. These variations often reflected regional dialectal differences or scribal preferences.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname in England appears in the 13th-century Pipe Rolls, which mention a certain Johannes Gonsales. This suggests that the name had already begun to spread beyond the Iberian Peninsula by that time.

Over the centuries, the Gonsales surname has been borne by numerous notable individuals, including:

1. Fernán González (c. 910-970), a Spanish count and one of the most important leaders in the early stages of the Reconquista.
2. Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (c. 1495-1579), a Spanish explorer and conquistador who founded the city of Bogotá in present-day Colombia.
3. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1453-1515), a Spanish military leader known as "El Gran Capitán" (The Great Captain) for his strategic brilliance.
4. Gonzalo de Berceo (c. 1198-c. 1264), a Spanish poet and one of the earliest known writers in the Castilian language.
5. Gonzalo Guerrero (c. 1470-c. 1536), a Spanish sailor who shipwrecked in Mexico and integrated with the Maya people, becoming one of the earliest examples of cultural exchange between Europeans and Native Americans.

The Gonsales surname continues to be prevalent in Spain, Portugal, and throughout Latin America, reflecting its deep historical roots in the Iberian Peninsula and the spread of Spanish and Portuguese culture and influence across the globe.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gonsales

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

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

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

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