2000
#5,060
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,359
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.36
Rare Last name
Jara
A Spanish occupational surname referring to someone who made or sold jars or pottery.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,892 Americans carry the last name Jara. That puts it at #3,994 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.89 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 34,650 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Jara 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
9.9K
1 in 34,650
Census rank
#3,994
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,626 bearers of the surname Jara in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.89 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3994th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Jara, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Jara
The surname Jara originated in Spain and has its roots in the Arabic word 'jarrah', which means 'surgeon' or 'barber'. It is believed to have been introduced to the Iberian Peninsula during the Moorish occupation of Spain, which lasted from the 8th to the 15th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Jara surname can be found in the Libro de la Montería, a medieval hunting treatise written in the 14th century during the reign of King Alfonso XI of Castile. The book mentions a certain Juan Jara, who held the position of Montero Mayor, or Chief Huntsman, in the king's court.
In the 16th century, the Jara surname appeared in various records of the Spanish Inquisition, indicating that some individuals bearing this name were subject to scrutiny by the Catholic Church's infamous tribunals. Notable examples include Diego Jara, a merchant from Seville who was tried in 1550, and Juan de Jara, a clergyman from Granada who faced charges in 1567.
As the Spanish Empire expanded across the Atlantic, the Jara surname traveled to the Americas, particularly to regions that were part of the Spanish colonial territories. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the New World can be found in the archives of Mexico City, where a certain Pedro Jara is mentioned as a landowner in the early 17th century.
Among the notable figures who bore the Jara surname throughout history, we can mention Hernando Jara (1545-1610), a Spanish soldier and explorer who participated in the conquest of the Philippines and served as the first Spanish governor of the island of Guam. Another prominent individual was Juan Jara Almirante (1725-1799), a Spanish naval officer who played a crucial role in the defense of the Spanish colony of Louisiana during the American Revolutionary War.
In the realm of literature, the Chilean poet and Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957), whose birth name was Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, adopted the pseudonym "Mistral" as a tribute to her maternal grandmother's maiden name, Jara.
The Jara surname has also been associated with various artistic and cultural figures, such as the Mexican actor and director Alfonso Jara (1918-1992), the Peruvian singer-songwriter Julio Jara (1939-2019), and the Colombian painter and sculptor Alejandro Jara (born 1938).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jara
Among Census respondents with the surname Jara, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Jara 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 Jara surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.0% · 7,590
- White7.9% · 683
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 215
- Black or African American1.0% · 88
- Two or more races0.4% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Jara
Jara 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
#4,042
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,790
+2,431 bearers (+38.2%)
Per 100,000 2.98
Rank movement Up 1,018 places
2020
#3,994
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,626
-164 bearers (-1.9%)
Per 100,000 2.89
Rank movement Up 48 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,060 | 6,359 | 2.36 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,042 | 8,790 | 2.98 | +2,431 bearers (+38.2%) | Up 1,018 places |
| 2020 | #3,994 | 8,626 | 2.89 | -164 bearers (-1.9%) | Up 48 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 Jara 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 | #4,042 | #3,994 | 1.2% |
| Count | 8,790 | 8,626 | -1.9% |
| Per 100K | 2.98 | 2.89 | -3.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Jara bearers went from 8,790 to 8,626 (-1.9% change). The surname moved up 48 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,042 to #3,994.
FAQ
Jara surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Jara?
Name Census estimates that about 9,892 living Americans carry the surname Jara. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 34,650 residents.
How common is Jara?
Jara ranks #3,994 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.89 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 8,626 people with the surname Jara. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,892), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.89 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.89 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Jara.
Has Jara become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Jara went from 8,790 recorded bearers to 8,626. That is a decrease of 164 (-1.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #4,042 to #3,994.
What does the Census say about the background of Jara?
Among Census respondents with the surname Jara, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). 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 Jara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (7,590 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Jara appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (88.0%), White (7.9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). 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 Jara (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 Jara mean?
A Spanish occupational surname referring to someone who made or sold jars or pottery. 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 Jara (2.89 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 Jara?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.