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

Gonzales, 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 Gonzales surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gonzales in America

Gonzales is the 105600th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gonzales surname appeared 169 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 Gonzales.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gonzales 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 Gonzales

The surname Gonzales originates from Spain and is derived from the medieval Spanish given name Gonzalo, which itself comes from the Visigothic name Gundisalvus. The name Gundisalvus is a compound of the Germanic elements "gund" (battle) and "salv" (whole or safe), essentially meaning "battle-safe" or "battle-savior."

The name Gonzales first emerged in the northern regions of Spain, particularly in the kingdoms of Castile and León, during the 8th to 10th centuries. It is believed to have been adopted as a hereditary surname during the reconquista, the period when Christian kingdoms fought to reclaim territories from the Moors.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gonzales can be found in the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a medieval manuscript dating back to the 10th century, which mentions a certain Gonzalo Fernández. Another early reference is in the Becerro de las Behetrías de Castilla, a 14th-century census of Castilian landowners, where several individuals with the surname Gonzales are listed.

The name Gonzales has been associated with several notable historical figures, including Hernán González de Córdoba (c. 1453-1518), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Cuba and Mexico; and Tirso de Molina (1579-1648), a Spanish poet, playwright, and Catholic monk whose real name was Gabriel Téllez González.

Other prominent individuals with the surname Gonzales include Pancho Villa (1878-1923), the Mexican revolutionary leader whose full name was José Doroteo Arango Arámbula González; and Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, better known as "El Chapo" Guzmán (born 1957), the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

In terms of place names, the surname Gonzales is closely associated with the city of Gonzales in Texas, which was founded by Empresario Rafael González and played a significant role in the Texas Revolution. The name is also linked to various other towns and villages across Spain, Mexico, and Latin America.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gonzales

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

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

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

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