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

Lezama, 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 Lezama surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lezama in America

Lezama is the 8578th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lezama surname appeared 3,840 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Lezama.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lezama 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 Lezama

The surname Lezama is believed to have originated in Spain, specifically in the Basque region. It is thought to be derived from the Basque word "leza," which means "cave" or "grotto," and "ama," meaning "mother." This suggests that the name may have originally been associated with a place or area where there were notable caves or grottos.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Lezama can be found in the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a medieval manuscript from the 10th century that contains legal documents and property records from the Kingdom of Navarre and the surrounding areas. This suggests that the name was already in use in that region by the late Middle Ages.

In the 16th century, a notable figure with the surname Lezama was Juan de Lezama, a Spanish soldier and explorer who participated in the conquest of Peru under Francisco Pizarro. He was born in the late 15th century and died around 1545.

Another prominent individual with the surname Lezama was José Lezama Lima, a Cuban poet, novelist, and essayist who was a key figure in the Cuban literary renaissance of the 20th century. He was born in 1910 and died in 1976, and is considered one of the most influential writers in Latin American literature.

In the 17th century, there was a Spanish painter named Juan Lezama who was active in Madrid and is known for his religious paintings and works depicting scenes from the Bible.

Another notable figure with the surname Lezama was Mariano Lezama, a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as Governor of the State of Chihuahua in the late 19th century. He was born in 1820 and died in 1899.

The surname Lezama has also been associated with various place names in Spain, such as Lezama in the province of Álava, and Lezama de Leguizamón in the province of La Rioja. These place names may have contributed to the spread and distribution of the surname across different regions of Spain and later to other parts of the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lezama

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

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

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

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