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

Lizama, 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 Lizama surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lizama in America

Lizama is the 10777th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lizama surname appeared 2,960 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 Lizama.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lizama 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 Lizama

The surname Lizama is of Spanish origin, specifically from the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France. It dates back to the medieval period, around the 11th-12th centuries. The name is believed to be derived from the Basque words "liz" meaning "mud" or "clay" and "ama" meaning "mother" or "source," possibly referring to an area with fertile, muddy soil suitable for agriculture.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Lizama surname is found in the Becerro Galicano, a 13th-century document related to the nobility and landowners of the Kingdom of León and Castile. It mentions a certain Pedro Lizama who held lands in the region of Álava, in present-day Basque Country.

Another notable early reference is the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a medieval cartulary from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain, dating back to the 11th century. It includes a record of a certain Sancho Lizama, a landowner in the area.

The Lizama surname has also been associated with several notable historical figures. One example is Juan de Lizama, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico in the 16th century under Hernán Cortés. He was born in Álava, Spain, around 1495 and died in Mexico in the mid-1500s.

Another prominent figure was Pedro de Lizama y Leguizamón, a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Panama from 1600 to 1603. He was born in Navarra, Spain, in the mid-16th century.

In the 17th century, there was Diego de Lizama, a Spanish soldier and explorer who led expeditions in South America, particularly in present-day Colombia and Venezuela. He was born in Álava, Spain, around 1610.

In the 19th century, José Lizama was a notable Mexican politician and military officer who fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). He was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, in 1802 and died in 1876.

Another notable bearer of the Lizama surname was Julio Lizama, a Chilean journalist, writer, and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies in the late 19th century. He was born in Chillán, Chile, in 1851 and died in 1923.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lizama

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

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

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

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