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

Melchor, 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 Melchor surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Melchor in America

Melchor is the 4269th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Melchor surname appeared 8,319 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Melchor.

We can also compare 2010 data for Melchor 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 Melchor

The surname Melchor has its origins in Spain, where it emerged in the early medieval period around the 7th or 8th century. It is derived from the Spanish form of the Hebrew name Melchior, one of the three biblical Magi or Wise Men who visited the infant Jesus bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The name Melchior itself is a variant of the Hebrew name Malki-Or, meaning "king of light" or "my king is light."

In its earliest known appearances, the surname Melchor was often spelled as Melchior or Melchior, reflecting its Hebrew roots. It is believed that the name was initially adopted by Spanish families who claimed descent from the legendary Wise Man Melchior or who lived in areas associated with his veneration.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Melchor can be found in the 13th-century Libro de las Behetrías, a medieval Spanish manuscript that documented landholdings and taxation records. In this text, a certain Rodrigo Melchor is listed as a landowner in the region of Castile.

Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the surname Melchor was borne by several notable individuals, including Juan Melchor de Cabrera (c. 1490-1557), a Spanish military commander and colonial administrator who served as the first governor of Costa Rica. Another prominent figure was Fray Juan Melchor de Valledor (1585-1669), a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary who worked extensively in the Philippines.

In the 17th century, the surname Melchor appears in connection with the town of Melchor de Mencos, located in the present-day Mexican state of Veracruz. This town was likely named after a person bearing the surname Melchor, though the exact origins of the place name are uncertain.

Other notable individuals with the surname Melchor include Joaquín Melchor Fernández de Saavedra y Alvarado (1768-1838), a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the last Spanish governor of Cuba, and José Melchor Gaspar de Jovellanos (1744-1811), a Spanish politician, author, and influential figure of the Enlightenment.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Melchor

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

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

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

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