Guamán last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Guamán

A surname of Quechua origin meaning "falcon" or "sparrow hawk."

Guamán, 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 Guamán surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Guamán in America

Guamán is the 9461st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Guamán surname appeared 3,439 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 Guamán.

We can also compare 2010 data for Guamán 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 9461 18626 -65.26%
Count 3,439 1,364 86.40%
Proportion per 100k 1.17 0.51 78.57%

The history of the last name Guamán

The surname GUAMAN is believed to have originated from the Quechua language, spoken by the indigenous people of the Andes mountains in South America, particularly in present-day Peru and Ecuador. The name is thought to have emerged during the time of the Inca Empire, which flourished from the 13th to the 16th century.

One of the earliest known records of the name GUAMAN can be found in the chronicles of Spanish conquistadors who arrived in the region during the 16th century. These accounts often mention individuals with this surname, indicating that it was already in use among the local population at the time of the Spanish conquest.

The name GUAMAN is believed to derive from the Quechua word "guaman," which means "falcon" or "hawk." This suggests that the name may have originally been used to identify individuals or families associated with falconry or those who lived in areas where these birds were prevalent.

In the 17th century, a notable figure bearing the surname GUAMAN was Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, a Quechua nobleman and chronicler who wrote a extensive manuscript titled "El Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno" (The First New Chronicle and Good Government). This valuable work provides insights into the culture, history, and daily life of the indigenous people during the early colonial period.

Another prominent individual with the GUAMAN surname was Juan de Santa Cruz Guaman Poma, a Quechua nobleman and writer who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He is known for his literary work "Carta a una Noble Señora" (Letter to a Noble Lady), which criticized the mistreatment of indigenous people by Spanish colonizers.

In the 18th century, José Guaman Poma de Ayala, a descendant of Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, was a notable figure who fought for the rights and preservation of indigenous cultures in the Andean region.

Throughout the centuries, the GUAMAN surname has also been associated with various place names in Peru and Ecuador, such as Guamán (a town in the Amazonas region of Peru) and Guamán (a parish in the Chimborazo province of Ecuador), further reinforcing its connection to the Quechua language and culture.

While the GUAMAN surname has its roots in the Andes region, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and cultural exchange. However, its origins can be traced back to the rich history and heritage of the indigenous peoples of South America.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Guamán

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

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 Guamán was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 1.95% 67
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.32% 11
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.23% 8
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 97.44% 3,351

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 Guamán has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 1.95% 3.08% -44.93%
Black 0.32% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.23% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% 0.59% (S)%
Hispanic 97.44% 96.04% 1.45%

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

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Guamán last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 5, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/guaman-surname-popularity/.

"Guamán last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/guaman-surname-popularity/. Accessed 5 December, 2024

Guamán last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/guaman-surname-popularity/.

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