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

Meza, 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 Meza surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Meza in America

Meza is the 639th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Meza surname appeared 53,230 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 18 people would have the surname Meza.

We can also compare 2010 data for Meza 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 Meza

The surname Meza has its origins in Spain, tracing back to the 14th century. It is a topographic name derived from the Spanish word "mesa," meaning a flat-topped hill or a plateau. Many families with this surname likely hailed from areas with such geographical features.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Meza surname can be found in the Repartimiento de Sevilla, a medieval document detailing the distribution of land and property in the city of Seville after its reconquest from the Moors in the 13th century. This suggests that the name was already established in parts of Andalusia by that time.

In the 16th century, the Meza surname appears in various records and manuscripts from the Spanish colonies in the Americas. For instance, Juan de Meza, a Spanish conquistador, was among the early settlers in what is now Colombia, arriving in the 1530s.

Another notable bearer of the Meza name was Diego de Meza y Guzmán, a Spanish soldier and explorer who lived from 1570 to 1630. He served as Governor of Gibraltar and was involved in the colonization efforts in the West Indies.

During the 17th century, the Meza surname was also found in parts of Mexico, where it may have been influenced by the Nahuatl word "metztli," meaning moon. This could potentially explain some variations in spelling, such as Metzar or Metzger.

In the 18th century, a prominent figure with the Meza surname was José de Meza y Salazar, a Spanish military officer who fought in the Peninsular War against the French. He was born in 1763 and died in 1817.

As the Spanish Empire expanded and families migrated, the Meza surname spread across various regions of Latin America, including Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina. In some areas, the name may have been influenced by local indigenous languages or dialects, leading to slight variations in spelling or pronunciation.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Meza

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

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

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

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