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

Melgar, 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 Melgar surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Melgar in America

Melgar is the 3897th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Melgar surname appeared 9,106 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 Melgar.

We can also compare 2010 data for Melgar 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 Melgar

The surname Melgar originated from the Galician-Spanish regions of northwestern Spain during the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Galician word "melga," which referred to a small plot of land or field. This suggests that the name may have initially been a descriptive surname given to someone who lived near or worked on such a field.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Melgar surname can be found in the 13th-century Tumbo de Sobrado, a cartulary containing documents related to the Cistercian monastery of Santa María de Sobrado in Galicia. The name appears in various spellings, including "Melgaar" and "Melgaer," reflecting the linguistic evolution and regional variations of the time.

During the 14th century, the Melgar surname emerged in various parts of Galicia and neighboring regions of northern Portugal. Prominent individuals bearing this name included Pedro Melgar, a nobleman and landowner in the town of Pontevedra, Spain, who lived around 1350.

In the 15th century, the Melgar family expanded their influence and notable members included Juan Melgar, a respected scholar and theologian who taught at the University of Salamanca in the late 1400s.

The 16th century saw the Melgar surname spread further across the Iberian Peninsula and into the Americas. One notable figure was Hernán Melgar, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru alongside Francisco Pizarro in the 1530s.

In the 17th century, the Melgar name gained prominence in the arts and literature. Miguel de Melgar was a celebrated poet and playwright from Seville, Spain, who lived from 1625 to 1689 and was renowned for his works in the Spanish Golden Age.

As the Melgar family dispersed across Europe and the Americas, the name took on various regional spellings and variations, such as Melgares, Melgarin, and Melgarejo. In the 19th century, José Melgar y Valdivieso (1791-1876) was a renowned Peruvian statesman and poet who served as the President of Peru from 1835 to 1839.

While the Melgar surname has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula, it has since been carried by notable individuals across various fields and regions, reflecting the rich tapestry of history and migration patterns that have shaped this surname over centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Melgar

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

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

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

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