Matlaga last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Matlaga

An Anglicized surname derived from the Slavic name "Matlag", meaning "slow to anger".

Matlaga, 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 Matlaga surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Matlaga in America

Matlaga is the 144141st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Matlaga surname appeared 115 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 Matlaga.

We can also compare 2010 data for Matlaga 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank1441411417881.65%
Count1151086.28%
Proportion per 100k0.040.040.00%

The history of the last name Matlaga

The surname MATLAGA is of Slavic origin, originating in the region of present-day Slovakia and the surrounding areas of Central Europe. It is believed to have derived from the Slavic word "matla," which means "broom" or "brush," suggesting that the name may have been initially given to someone who worked as a broom maker or seller.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name MATLAGA can be found in the 15th century, when a certain Jan Matlaga was listed as a resident of the town of Bardejov, in what is now eastern Slovakia. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name MATLAGA began to spread beyond its original homeland, as members of the family migrated to other parts of Europe. In 1612, a man named Michal Matlaga was recorded as living in the city of Krakow, Poland. A few decades later, in 1657, a woman named Anna Matlaga was mentioned in a document from the town of Brno, in what is now the Czech Republic.

One notable bearer of the name MATLAGA was Juraj Matlaga, a Slovak writer and poet who lived from 1714 to 1789. He is considered one of the pioneers of Slovak literature and is best known for his collection of folk songs and poems, "Zbierka ľudových piesní a básní" (Collection of Folk Songs and Poems).

Another individual of historical significance was Andrej Matlaga, a Slovak Catholic priest and writer who lived from 1811 to 1885. He was a vocal advocate for the use of the Slovak language in education and church services, and played a significant role in the Slovak national revival movement of the 19th century.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many individuals with the surname MATLAGA emigrated from Slovakia and neighboring regions to the United States and other parts of the world. One notable example is Jozef Matlaga, a Slovak immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s and worked as a coal miner. He was born in 1879 and died in 1957.

While the surname MATLAGA is not among the most common in Slovakia or elsewhere, it has a long and rich history that can be traced back several centuries. The name continues to be carried on by individuals of Slovak descent around the globe, serving as a reminder of their cultural heritage and the journeys of their ancestors.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Matlaga

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

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 Matlaga was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only97.39%112
Non-Hispanic Black Only0.00%0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin(S)%(S)

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 Matlaga has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White97.39%97.22%0.17%
Black0.00%0.00%0.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander(S)%0.00%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0.00%0.00%
Two or More Races(S)%(S)%(S)%
Hispanic(S)%(S)%(S)%

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

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

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