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

Gonsalez, 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 Gonsalez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gonsalez in America

Gonsalez is the 6225th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gonsalez surname appeared 5,495 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Gonsalez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gonsalez 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 Gonsalez

The surname Gonsalez is of Spanish origin, derived from the personal name Gonzalo. It has its roots in the Visigothic language, where the name Gundisalvus meant "battle protection." The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 9th century in the Kingdom of Asturias, located in the northwest region of modern-day Spain.

During the Middle Ages, the name Gonsalez was particularly prevalent in the regions of Galicia, Asturias, and León. It is believed that the name first appeared in written records in the 10th century, as documented in the Becerro de Celanova, an ancient manuscript from the Monastery of Celanova in Galicia.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Gonsalez was Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1453-1515), a prominent Spanish military leader during the Reconquista and the Italian Wars. He was known as "El Gran Capitán" (The Great Captain) for his strategic victories against the French.

Another notable figure was Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (c. 1495-1579), a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Muisca people and founded the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá, the present-day capital of Colombia.

In the 16th century, the Gonsalez surname gained prominence in Mexico and other parts of the Spanish Empire. One example is Hernán González de Eslava (1534-1601), a Spanish-Mexican composer and choir director who is considered one of the earliest and most important composers of the Renaissance in the New World.

The name also appeared in literary works, such as in the Spanish epic poem "El Cantar de Mío Cid," where the character Álvar Fáñez de Minaya is referred to as "Álvar Fáñez Gonsalez."

Another notable figure is Tirso de Molina (1579-1648), a Spanish playwright and poet whose full name was Gabriel Téllez y Girón, but who wrote under the pseudonym Fray Gabriel Téllez or Tirso de Molina. He is considered one of the great dramatists of the Spanish Golden Age.

Throughout history, the surname Gonsalez has maintained its Spanish roots and has been widely dispersed across the Spanish-speaking world, including Latin America, due to the expansion of the Spanish Empire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gonsalez

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

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

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

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