2000
#19,480
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,283
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.48
Rare Last name
Montesinos
A Spanish locational surname derived from any of the various places named Montesino, meaning "mountain of pines".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,480 Americans carry the last name Montesinos. That puts it at #13,457 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.72 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 138,207 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Montesinos surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 138,207
Census rank
#13,457
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,163 bearers of the surname Montesinos in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.72 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13457th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Montesinos, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 95.0%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Two or More Races (0.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Montesinos
The surname MONTESINOS has its origin in Spain, specifically in the region of Castilla-La Mancha. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century. The name is derived from the Spanish words "monte" meaning "mountain" and "sinos" which is a variant of "signos" meaning "signs" or "symbols". Therefore, MONTESINOS can be interpreted as "mountain signs" or "mountain symbols".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the MONTESINOS surname can be found in a document from the year 1295, which mentions a certain "Juan Montesinos" from the town of Cuenca. This suggests that the name was already in use by the late 13th century in the region of Castilla-La Mancha.
Another historical reference to the MONTESINOS name can be found in the chronicles of Diego de Landa, a Spanish Bishop and historian who lived in the 16th century. In his writings, he mentions a Spanish soldier named Gonzalo Guerrero Montesinos, who was shipwrecked off the coast of Mexico in 1511 and became one of the first Europeans to integrate into Maya society.
One of the most notable figures in history bearing the MONTESINOS surname was José Fernández Montesinos y Donoso (1592-1650), a Spanish jurist and writer who served as the President of the Council of the Indies, the highest governing body for Spain's overseas territories.
Another prominent individual was Fray Alonso Montesinos (c.1500-1572), a Spanish Dominican friar who was one of the first to denounce the mistreatment of indigenous people in the West Indies by Spanish colonizers. His famous sermon, known as the "Sermon of Montesinos", delivered in 1511, is considered a turning point in the struggle for the rights of Native Americans.
In the realm of literature, José F. Montesinos (1897-1972) was a renowned Spanish scholar and literary critic, known for his works on Spanish Golden Age literature, particularly on the writings of Miguel de Cervantes.
The MONTESINOS surname can also be traced back to the town of Montesinos in the province of Toledo, which likely contributed to the widespread use of the name in the region.
Throughout history, the MONTESINOS surname has been widely distributed across Spain and its former colonies, with notable bearers of the name emerging in various fields, from politics and law to religion and literature.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Montesinos
Among Census respondents with the surname Montesinos, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 95.0%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Two or More Races (0.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Montesinos bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Montesinos surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.0% · 2,054
- White4.0% · 86
- Two or more races0.5% · 10
- Black or African American0.3% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Montesinos
Montesinos appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,903
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,172
+889 bearers (+69.3%)
Per 100,000 0.74
Rank movement Up 5,577 places
2020
#13,457
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,163
-9 bearers (-0.4%)
Per 100,000 0.72
Rank movement Up 446 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #19,480 | 1,283 | 0.48 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,903 | 2,172 | 0.74 | +889 bearers (+69.3%) | Up 5,577 places |
| 2020 | #13,457 | 2,163 | 0.72 | -9 bearers (-0.4%) | Up 446 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Montesinos surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,903 | #13,457 | 3.2% |
| Count | 2,172 | 2,163 | -0.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.74 | 0.72 | -2.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Montesinos bearers went from 2,172 to 2,163 (-0.4% change). The surname moved up 446 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,903 to #13,457.
FAQ
Montesinos surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Montesinos?
Name Census estimates that about 2,480 living Americans carry the surname Montesinos. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 138,207 residents.
How common is Montesinos?
Montesinos ranks #13,457 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.72 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,163 people with the surname Montesinos. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,480), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.72 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.72 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Montesinos.
Has Montesinos become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Montesinos went from 2,172 recorded bearers to 2,163. That is a decrease of 9 (-0.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,903 to #13,457.
What does the Census say about the background of Montesinos?
Among Census respondents with the surname Montesinos, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 95.0%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Montesinos in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (2,054 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Montesinos appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (95.0%), White (4.0%), Two or More Races (0.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Montesinos (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Montesinos mean?
A Spanish locational surname derived from any of the various places named Montesino, meaning "mountain of pines". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Montesinos (0.72 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Montesinos?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Montesinos on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.