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

Mayo, 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 Mayo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mayo in America

Mayo is the 989th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mayo surname appeared 35,228 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 12 people would have the surname Mayo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mayo 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 Mayo

The surname "MAYO" is of Spanish origin, derived from the word "mayo" which means "May" in Spanish. It is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century as a descriptive surname for someone who was born or baptized in the month of May.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname MAYO can be found in medieval Spanish records and manuscripts from the regions of Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria. It is possible that the name was also adopted by Sephardic Jews who lived in Spain before their expulsion in 1492.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname MAYO was Pedro Mayo, a prominent military leader and conquistador who participated in the Spanish conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico during the 16th century. He was born in Seville, Spain, around 1490 and died in Mérida, Mexico, in 1541.

Another notable person with the surname MAYO was Juan Mayo, a Spanish painter and sculptor who lived in the 16th century. He was born in Burgos, Spain, around 1520 and is best known for his religious works, including several altarpieces and sculptures that can still be found in churches throughout Spain.

In the 17th century, the surname MAYO gained prominence in England and Ireland, possibly due to Spanish immigration or trade connections. One of the earliest recorded instances in England was Robert Mayo, a wealthy merchant and landowner who lived in London in the late 1600s.

In the 18th century, the surname MAYO was also found in America, with some of the earliest recorded instances being William Mayo, who was born in Virginia in 1733, and John Mayo, who fought in the American Revolutionary War and was born in Massachusetts in 1762.

Other notable individuals with the surname MAYO include Charles Mayo, an American surgeon and co-founder of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who was born in 1865 and died in 1939. His brother, William Mayo, also a co-founder of the Mayo Clinic, was born in 1861 and died in 1939.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mayo

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

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

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

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