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

Hernández, 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 Hernández surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hernández in America

Hernández is the 24431st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hernández surname appeared 1,025 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 Hernández.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hernández 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 Hernández

The surname Hernandez is of Spanish origin, originating from the regions of Castile and Andalusia in Spain. It dates back to the medieval period, around the 12th to 15th centuries.

Hernandez is derived from the Spanish given name Hernando, which is a Spanish form of the Germanic name Ferdinand or Fernando. This name can be traced back to the Visigothic period in Spain, when it was rendered as Fredenandus or Fredelandus.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Hernandez can be found in the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a collection of medieval documents from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain. These documents date from the 10th to the 12th centuries and mention individuals with the name Hernandez.

In the 13th century, a nobleman named Ruy Hernandez de Toro was mentioned in the Crónica General de España, a historical chronicle compiled by King Alfonso X of Castile. He was a prominent figure in the court of King Ferdinand III of Castile.

Another notable figure with the surname Hernandez was Gonzalo Hernández de Córdoba (1453-1515), a Spanish military leader commonly known as Gonzalo de Córdoba or El Gran Capitán (The Great Captain). He was a skilled strategist and played a crucial role in the Spanish conquest of Naples and southern Italy.

During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the surname Hernandez was brought to the New World by Spanish settlers and conquistadors. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the Americas is Hernando Hernandez, a Spanish explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the 16th century.

Another notable figure with the surname Hernandez was José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi (1776-1827), a Mexican writer and journalist often considered the father of the Mexican novel. He is best known for his satirical novel El Periquillo Sarniento, published in 1816.

José Martí (1853-1895), the renowned Cuban poet, essayist, and revolutionary, also had the surname Hernandez as part of his full name, José Julián Martí Pérez Hernandez. He played a significant role in the Cuban independence movement and is considered a national hero in Cuba.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hernández

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

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!