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

Javier, 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 Javier surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Javier in America

Javier is the 3838th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Javier surname appeared 9,226 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Javier.

We can also compare 2010 data for Javier 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 Javier

The surname Javier is of Spanish origin, derived from the Basque personal name "Xavier" or "Xabier". It is believed to have emerged in the late Middle Ages, around the 14th or 15th century, particularly in the Basque region of northern Spain and southern France.

The name Xavier is thought to have its roots in the Basque word "etxe" or "etxea", meaning "house" or "household". It may have initially referred to someone who lived in a particular house or locality. The prefix "Xa-" or "Cha-" was a common Basque honorific, leading to the formation of names like Xavier or Javier.

One of the earliest known references to the name Javier can be found in the 16th century, with Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552), a Navarrese Catholic missionary and co-founder of the Jesuit order. He was born Francisco de Jasso y Javier in the castle of Xavier, near Sangüesa, in the Kingdom of Navarre.

Another notable historical figure with the surname Javier was Juan de Javier (1701-1765), a Spanish Jesuit missionary who worked in the Philippines and is known for his efforts to establish missions and promote education among the indigenous population.

In the 19th century, Mariano Javier Arista (1802-1855) was a Mexican military officer and politician who served as President of Mexico from 1851 to 1853. He played a significant role in the Mexican-American War and the Reform War in Mexico.

Javier Solana (born 1942) is a Spanish physicist, diplomat, and politician who served as the Secretary-General of NATO from 1995 to 1999 and as the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union from 1999 to 2009.

Another notable bearer of the surname is Javier Marías (born 1951), a Spanish novelist, translator, and academic who has received numerous literary awards, including the prestigious Príncipe de Asturias Award for Literature in 1997.

While the surname Javier is primarily associated with Spain and the Basque region, it has also spread to other parts of the world due to Spanish exploration, colonization, and migration. However, its roots can be traced back to the Basque language and the historic Basque territories of northern Spain and southern France.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Javier

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

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

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

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