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

Lince, 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 Lince surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lince in America

Lince is the 39281st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lince surname appeared 560 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Lince.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lince 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 Lince

The surname LINCE is of Spanish origin and can be traced back to the late 15th century. It is derived from the Spanish word "lince," which means "lynx," referring to the wild cat native to the Iberian Peninsula. The name likely originated as a descriptive surname, given to someone with a physical or personality trait resembling that of a lynx, such as having sharp eyesight or being agile and stealthy.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname LINCE can be found in the Archivo General de Indias, a vast collection of documents from the Spanish colonial period in the Americas. In these archives, there are records of a certain Pedro LINCE, born in Seville in 1492, who sailed to the New World in 1518 as part of the expedition led by Juan de Grijalva.

The name LINCE also appears in the historic Catastro de Ensenada, a comprehensive census and survey conducted in Spain during the mid-18th century. Among the individuals listed is a farmer named Juan LINCE, born in 1712 in the village of Grazalema, located in the Sierra de Cádiz region of southern Spain.

A notable figure bearing the LINCE surname was Francisco LINCE y Verdugo (1617-1681), a Spanish military officer and governor of the Philippine Islands from 1678 to 1681. He was born in Écija, Andalusia, and his tenure as governor was marked by his efforts to strengthen the colonial defenses against pirate attacks and his promotion of agriculture and trade.

Another individual of historical significance was María LINCE de Mendoza (1562-1629), a Spanish noblewoman and patron of the arts. She was born in Toledo and is known for her patronage of the renowned painter El Greco, commissioning several works from him, including the famous "View of Toledo" painting.

In the realm of literature, the name LINCE is also associated with Rodrigo LINCE de Vega (1570-1638), a Spanish playwright and poet from Madrid. Although lesser known than his contemporary, Lope de Vega, Rodrigo LINCE de Vega contributed several works to the Spanish Golden Age of literature and was praised for his poetic skill.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lince

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

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

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

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