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

Guiracocha, 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 Guiracocha surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Guiracocha in America

Guiracocha is the 50851st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Guiracocha surname appeared 410 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 Guiracocha.

We can also compare 2010 data for Guiracocha 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 Guiracocha

The surname "GUIRACOCHA" has its origins in Ecuador, South America, dating back to the 15th century. It is believed to be derived from the Quechua language, which was spoken by the Inca civilization.

The name "GUIRACOCHA" is rooted in the Quechua words "Vira" meaning "sea foam" and "Cocha" meaning "lake," suggesting a connection to a body of water or a coastal region. This aligns with the geographical location of Ecuador, bordered by the Pacific Ocean.

In pre-Columbian mythology, Viracocha (also spelled as Guiracocha) was regarded as the creator deity and the supreme being in the Incan pantheon. This name held significant religious and cultural importance in the Inca Empire.

Historical references to the name "GUIRACOCHA" can be found in various chronicles and manuscripts from the 16th and 17th centuries, written by Spanish conquistadors and chroniclers who documented their encounters with the Inca civilization.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Juan de Guiracocha, a prominent Inca leader who lived in the late 15th century. He is mentioned in the writings of Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, a Spanish historian and chronicler.

Another notable figure with the surname "GUIRACOCHA" was Tomás Guiracocha, a 16th-century Inca nobleman and military commander who fought against the Spanish conquistadors during the conquest of Peru.

In the 17th century, a Spanish priest named Francisco de Guiracocha was recorded as living in Quito, Ecuador. He is believed to have been of Indigenous descent and may have adopted the surname to honor his ancestral roots.

During the colonial era, the name "GUIRACOCHA" was also associated with certain geographical locations in Ecuador, such as the town of Guiracocha in the province of Cotopaxi, which bears a similar name to the ancient deity.

It is important to note that the surname "GUIRACOCHA" has been subject to various spellings and variations over time, reflecting the influences of different languages and the challenges of transcribing Indigenous names into Spanish or other European languages.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Guiracocha

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

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

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

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