2000
#2,615
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,703
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.71
Uncommon Last name
Heredia
A Spanish habitational surname referring to someone from any of the various places called Heredia, meaning "hereditary estate."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 19,751 Americans carry the last name Heredia. That puts it at #2,049 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.76 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 17,354 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Heredia surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
20K
1 in 17,354
Census rank
#2,049
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
17K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 17,224 bearers of the surname Heredia in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.76 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2049th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Heredia, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.0%. The next largest groups are White (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heredia
The surname Heredia has its origins in Spain, dating back to the 8th century during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. It is believed to be derived from the Arabic word "harad" or "herad," which means a rocky or stony area. This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived in or near a rocky region.
During the Reconquista, the Christian rulers of Spain began to adopt and adapt many Arabic names and words into Spanish. The name Heredia likely emerged as a result of this cultural integration. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th-century manuscript from the Codex of Santiago de Compostela.
In the 13th century, the name Heredia appeared in various historical documents in the region of Navarre, located in northern Spain. This may indicate that the name originated or gained prominence in that area. One notable figure from this time was Pedro Heredia, a military leader who participated in the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada in the late 15th century.
As the Spanish Empire expanded into the Americas, the name Heredia was carried across the Atlantic. One of the earliest recorded examples of this is Pedro de Heredia, a Spanish conquistador who founded the city of Cartagena de Indias in present-day Colombia in 1533.
Another prominent figure in history with the surname Heredia was José María Heredia y Heredia (1803-1839), a Cuban poet and playwright who is considered one of the most influential figures of the Romantic movement in Spanish American literature. He was born in Santiago de Cuba and spent much of his life in exile due to his political beliefs.
In the 19th century, the name Heredia also gained recognition in Mexico. Ignacio Ramírez Heredia (1818-1879) was a Mexican writer, politician, and philosopher who played a significant role in the Reform War and the establishment of a secular state in Mexico.
Other notable individuals with the surname Heredia include Juan de Heredia (1480-1554), a Spanish military leader and conquistador who served as the first governor of Cartagena de Indias, and Francisco Heredia Dávila (1570-1646), a Spanish jurist and author who served as a judge in the Viceroyalty of Peru.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heredia
Among Census respondents with the surname Heredia, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.0%. The next largest groups are White (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Heredia bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Heredia surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.0% · 16,011
- White5.1% · 878
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 145
- Black or African American0.5% · 88
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 56
- Two or more races0.3% · 46
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heredia
Heredia appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,061
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,506
+4,803 bearers (+37.8%)
Per 100,000 5.93
Rank movement Up 554 places
2020
#2,049
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,224
-282 bearers (-1.6%)
Per 100,000 5.76
Rank movement Up 12 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,615 | 12,703 | 4.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,061 | 17,506 | 5.93 | +4,803 bearers (+37.8%) | Up 554 places |
| 2020 | #2,049 | 17,224 | 5.76 | -282 bearers (-1.6%) | Up 12 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Heredia surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,061 | #2,049 | 0.6% |
| Count | 17,506 | 17,224 | -1.6% |
| Per 100K | 5.93 | 5.76 | -2.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heredia bearers went from 17,506 to 17,224 (-1.6% change). The surname moved up 12 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,061 to #2,049.
FAQ
Heredia surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heredia?
Name Census estimates that about 19,751 living Americans carry the surname Heredia. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 17,354 residents.
How common is Heredia?
Heredia ranks #2,049 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.76 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 17,224 people with the surname Heredia. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (19,751), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.76 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.76 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Heredia.
Has Heredia become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heredia went from 17,506 recorded bearers to 17,224. That is a decrease of 282 (-1.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #2,061 to #2,049.
What does the Census say about the background of Heredia?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heredia, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.0%. The next largest groups are White (5.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Heredia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (16,011 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heredia appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (93.0%), White (5.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Heredia (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Heredia mean?
A Spanish habitational surname referring to someone from any of the various places called Heredia, meaning "hereditary estate." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Heredia (5.76 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Heredia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.