2000
#6,592
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,741
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.76
Rare Last name
Lizarraga
A Basque surname meaning "old oak" or "place of the old oak."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,235 Americans carry the last name Lizarraga. That puts it at #5,331 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.11 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 47,374 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lizarraga 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
7.2K
1 in 47,374
Census rank
#5,331
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,309 bearers of the surname Lizarraga in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.11 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5331st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lizarraga, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lizarraga
The surname Lizarraga originated in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France during the medieval period. It is derived from the Basque words "liza," meaning elm tree, and "arraga," meaning valley or ravine. This suggests that the name likely referred to a place where elm trees grew in a valley or ravine.
The earliest recorded instances of the Lizarraga surname date back to the 13th century in the Basque provinces of Navarre and Gipuzkoa. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Juan de Lizarraga, a nobleman from the town of Lizarraga in Navarre, who lived in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Lizarraga family played a prominent role in the political and military affairs of the Kingdom of Navarre. Juan de Lizarraga, a knight and military commander, fought in the Navarrese Civil War against the Crown of Aragon in the 1450s.
Another notable figure was Reginaldo de Lizarraga, a Basque priest and writer who authored one of the earliest works on the Basque language, "Dictionario Breve de la Lengua Vizcayna," in the late 16th century.
During the colonial era, several members of the Lizarraga family emigrated to the Americas, particularly to Mexico and Peru. One of them was Diego de Lizarraga, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru under Francisco Pizarro in the 1530s.
In the 18th century, Ignacio de Lizarraga y Beaumont, a Basque military officer and colonial administrator, served as the Governor of Chile from 1768 to 1777.
Other notable individuals with the Lizarraga surname include Juan de Lizarraga (1529-1615), a Spanish Dominican friar and missionary in Mexico; Martín de Lizarraga (c. 1560-1615), a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary in New Spain; and Fray Antonio de Lizarraga (1628-1692), a Spanish Augustinian friar and writer who chronicled the history of the Augustinian order in Mexico.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lizarraga
Among Census respondents with the surname Lizarraga, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Lizarraga 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 Lizarraga surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.2% · 5,940
- White4.7% · 295
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 22
- Two or more races0.3% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 16
- Black or African American0.2% · 14
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lizarraga
Lizarraga 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
#5,361
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,494
+1,753 bearers (+37.0%)
Per 100,000 2.20
Rank movement Up 1,231 places
2020
#5,331
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,309
-185 bearers (-2.8%)
Per 100,000 2.11
Rank movement Up 30 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,592 | 4,741 | 1.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,361 | 6,494 | 2.20 | +1,753 bearers (+37.0%) | Up 1,231 places |
| 2020 | #5,331 | 6,309 | 2.11 | -185 bearers (-2.8%) | Up 30 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 Lizarraga 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 | #5,361 | #5,331 | 0.6% |
| Count | 6,494 | 6,309 | -2.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.20 | 2.11 | -4.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lizarraga bearers went from 6,494 to 6,309 (-2.8% change). The surname moved up 30 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,361 to #5,331.
FAQ
Lizarraga surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lizarraga?
Name Census estimates that about 7,235 living Americans carry the surname Lizarraga. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 47,374 residents.
How common is Lizarraga?
Lizarraga ranks #5,331 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.11 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,309 people with the surname Lizarraga. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,235), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.11 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.11 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Lizarraga.
Has Lizarraga become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lizarraga went from 6,494 recorded bearers to 6,309. That is a decrease of 185 (-2.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #5,361 to #5,331.
What does the Census say about the background of Lizarraga?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lizarraga, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Lizarraga in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (5,940 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lizarraga appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (94.2%), White (4.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Lizarraga (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 Lizarraga mean?
A Basque surname meaning "old oak" or "place of the old oak." 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 Lizarraga (2.11 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 many people have the last name Lizarraga?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Lizarraga at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.