2000
#9,520
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,132
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.16
Rare Last name
Lobato
A Spanish surname derived from the word "lobo," meaning "wolf," likely referring to someone with wolf-like characteristics.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,376 Americans carry the last name Lobato. That puts it at #8,309 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.28 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 78,326 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lobato 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
4.4K
1 in 78,326
Census rank
#8,309
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,816 bearers of the surname Lobato in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.28 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8309th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lobato, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 79.5%. The next largest groups are White (18.0%) and Two or More Races (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lobato
The surname Lobato originates from Portugal and Spain, dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Spanish and Portuguese word "lobo," meaning wolf. The name likely referred to someone who lived near a wolf's den or someone with wolf-like characteristics.
The earliest recorded instances of the Lobato surname can be found in medieval Portuguese and Spanish documents. One notable example is Pero Lobato, a Portuguese nobleman who lived in the 13th century and served as a military commander during the Reconquista.
In the 14th century, the Lobato name appeared in the Libro de la Montería, a hunting book commissioned by King Alfonso XI of Castile. This book recorded various place names associated with hunting grounds, including Lobatos, a village in the province of Burgos, Spain.
During the 15th century, the Lobato surname gained prominence in the Canary Islands, where several families with this name settled after the Spanish conquest. One notable figure was Juan Lobato, a conquistador who participated in the conquest of the island of Gran Canaria in the late 15th century.
In the 16th century, the Lobato name was documented in various regions of Spain and Portugal, including Extremadura, Andalusia, and the Azores Islands. One notable bearer of the name was Diego Lobato, a Spanish explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico in the early 1500s.
Another prominent Lobato was Manuel Lobato Sánchez, a Spanish military officer who fought against the Napoleonic forces in the early 19th century. He was born in 1776 and became a celebrated hero for his role in the Battle of Bailén in 1808.
In the 20th century, the Lobato surname was carried by several notable individuals, such as José Lobato, a Spanish painter born in 1908, and Joaquín Lobato, a Mexican writer and journalist born in 1920.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lobato
Among Census respondents with the surname Lobato, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 79.5%. The next largest groups are White (18.0%) and Two or More Races (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Lobato 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 Lobato surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino79.5% · 3,032
- White18.0% · 686
- Two or more races1.0% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 15
- Black or African American0.3% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lobato
Lobato 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
#8,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,047
+915 bearers (+29.2%)
Per 100,000 1.37
Rank movement Up 1,319 places
2020
#8,309
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,816
-231 bearers (-5.7%)
Per 100,000 1.28
Rank movement Down 108 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,520 | 3,132 | 1.16 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,201 | 4,047 | 1.37 | +915 bearers (+29.2%) | Up 1,319 places |
| 2020 | #8,309 | 3,816 | 1.28 | -231 bearers (-5.7%) | Down 108 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 Lobato 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 | #8,201 | #8,309 | -1.3% |
| Count | 4,047 | 3,816 | -5.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.37 | 1.28 | -6.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lobato bearers went from 4,047 to 3,816 (-5.7% change). The surname moved down 108 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,201 to #8,309.
FAQ
Lobato surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lobato?
Name Census estimates that about 4,376 living Americans carry the surname Lobato. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 78,326 residents.
How common is Lobato?
Lobato ranks #8,309 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.28 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 3,816 people with the surname Lobato. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,376), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.28 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.28 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 Lobato.
Has Lobato become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lobato went from 4,047 recorded bearers to 3,816. That is a decrease of 231 (-5.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,201 to #8,309.
What does the Census say about the background of Lobato?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lobato, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 79.5%. The next largest groups are White (18.0%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Lobato in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.5% (3,032 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lobato appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (79.5%), White (18.0%), Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Lobato (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 Lobato mean?
A Spanish surname derived from the word "lobo," meaning "wolf," likely referring to someone with wolf-like characteristics. 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 Lobato (1.28 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 Lobato?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Lobato, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.