2000
#11,214
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,592
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.96
Rare Last name
Joaquin
Derived from the Hebrew name Jehoiachin, meaning "established by God," or from the Spanish place name Joaquín.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,075 Americans carry the last name Joaquin. That puts it at #8,849 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.19 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 84,111 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Joaquin 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
4.1K
1 in 84,111
Census rank
#8,849
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,554 bearers of the surname Joaquin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.19 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8849th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Joaquin, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.4%) and White (17.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Joaquin
The surname JOAQUIN originated in Spain and Portugal during the medieval period. It is derived from the Hebrew personal name Yoaqim, which means "raised by Yahweh". The name was likely introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Sephardic Jews and later adopted by Christians.
JOAQUIN is a variant spelling of the more common Spanish surname Joaquín. In its earliest recorded forms, it was sometimes spelled Joackin or Joachin. The name is related to the English name Joachim, which shares the same Hebrew roots.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname JOAQUIN can be found in the 14th century Castilian manuscript known as the Cancionero de Baena, a collection of medieval Spanish poetry. This suggests the name was already in use among the Spanish nobility by the late Middle Ages.
During the Age of Exploration, the surname JOAQUIN was carried to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors and colonists. Notable individuals with this surname from this period include Juan JOAQUIN (1505-1565), a Spanish explorer and founder of the city of Guayaquil in present-day Ecuador.
In the 17th century, the JOAQUIN surname can be found in records from the Spanish colonial era in Mexico and the Philippines. One prominent figure was Pedro JOAQUIN Quintana (1660-1735), a Spanish missionary and linguist who studied and documented several indigenous languages of Mexico.
The 19th century saw the rise of several influential JOAQUIN figures in Latin American history. These include José María JOAQUIN Fernández de Lizardi (1776-1827), a Mexican writer and journalist considered the father of the novel in Mexico, and Manuel JOAQUIN Machado (1805-1882), a Peruvian politician who served as President of Peru from 1840 to 1841.
Other notable individuals with the JOAQUIN surname include the 20th century Spanish painter Joaquín JOAQUIN Torres-García (1874-1949), known for his influential role in the development of modern art in Uruguay, and Joaquín JOAQUIN Balaguer (1906-2002), a Dominican writer, diplomat, and long-serving President of the Dominican Republic.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joaquin
Among Census respondents with the surname Joaquin, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.4%) and White (17.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Joaquin 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 Joaquin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino52.0% · 1,848
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.4% · 690
- White17.2% · 613
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.0% · 178
- Two or more races3.9% · 139
- Black or African American2.4% · 86
Timeline
Historical Census data for Joaquin
Joaquin 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
#9,172
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,559
+967 bearers (+37.3%)
Per 100,000 1.21
Rank movement Up 2,042 places
2020
#8,849
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,554
-5 bearers (-0.1%)
Per 100,000 1.19
Rank movement Up 323 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,214 | 2,592 | 0.96 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,172 | 3,559 | 1.21 | +967 bearers (+37.3%) | Up 2,042 places |
| 2020 | #8,849 | 3,554 | 1.19 | -5 bearers (-0.1%) | Up 323 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 Joaquin 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 | #9,172 | #8,849 | 3.5% |
| Count | 3,559 | 3,554 | -0.1% |
| Per 100K | 1.21 | 1.19 | -1.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Joaquin bearers went from 3,559 to 3,554 (-0.1% change). The surname moved up 323 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,172 to #8,849.
FAQ
Joaquin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Joaquin?
Name Census estimates that about 4,075 living Americans carry the surname Joaquin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 84,111 residents.
How common is Joaquin?
Joaquin ranks #8,849 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.19 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,554 people with the surname Joaquin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,075), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.19 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.19 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Joaquin.
Has Joaquin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Joaquin went from 3,559 recorded bearers to 3,554. That is a decrease of 5 (-0.1%). In the national ranking it rose from #9,172 to #8,849.
What does the Census say about the background of Joaquin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Joaquin, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.4%) and White (17.2%). 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 Joaquin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.0% (1,848 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Joaquin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (52.0%), Asian/Pacific Islander (19.4%), White (17.2%). 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 Joaquin (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 Joaquin mean?
Derived from the Hebrew name Jehoiachin, meaning "established by God," or from the Spanish place name Joaquín. 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 Joaquin (1.19 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 common is the surname Joaquin?
Find out how common the surname Joaquin is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.