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 97671st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gonzales surname appeared 186 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 "GONZLES" is of Spanish origin, tracing its roots back to the medieval Iberian Peninsula. It is believed to have emerged as a patronymic surname, derived from the personal name "Gonzalo," itself a Hispanicized version of the Germanic name "Gundisalvus."

During the Reconquista period, from the 8th to the 15th centuries, as Christian kingdoms gradually reclaimed territory from Moorish rule, the name Gonzales began to spread throughout the Iberian regions. It is thought to have originated in the northern Spanish kingdoms, particularly in areas such as Galicia, Asturias, and Castile.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gonzales can be found in the Becerro Gótico de Cardeña, a 13th-century cartulary from the Monastery of Cardeña in Burgos, which mentions individuals bearing the surname. This suggests that the name had already become established by that time.

In the 14th century, the Libro del Repartimiento, a document detailing the distribution of lands in the newly conquered territories of Andalusia, lists several individuals with the surname Gonzales among the settlers and landowners.

Notable figures throughout history who have borne the surname Gonzales include:

1. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1453-1515), a Spanish military leader and nobleman known as "El Gran Capitán" (The Great Captain) for his victories during the Italian Wars.

2. Tirso de Molina (1579-1648), a Spanish poet, playwright, and Baroque writer, whose real name was Gabriel Téllez Gonzales.

3. Antonio Gonzales Velázquez (1723-1793), a Spanish painter and one of the most influential portraitists of the 18th century.

4. José María Gonzales Camarena (1803-1859), a Mexican lawyer, politician, and writer, regarded as one of the founders of Mexican national literature.

5. Venustiano Carranza Gonzales (1859-1920), a Mexican revolutionary and political leader who served as the 37th President of Mexico from 1917 to 1920.

The surname Gonzales has also been associated with various place names, such as Gonzales County in Texas, named after Rafael Gonzales, a prominent early settler and empresario. Additionally, the name has undergone various spelling variations over time, including Gonzalez, Gonsales, and Gonsalves.

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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