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

Montezuma, 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 Montezuma surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Montezuma in America

Montezuma is the 57639th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Montezuma surname appeared 353 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Montezuma.

We can also compare 2010 data for Montezuma 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 Montezuma

The surname Montezuma originates from Mexico and is derived from the name of the famous Aztec emperor Motecuhzoma II, who ruled from 1502 to 1520. The name "Montezuma" is a Spanish rendition of the Nahuatl name "Motecuhzoma," which means "he is the one who frowns like a lord."

The name Montezuma first appeared in Spanish chronicles and records documenting the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés in the early 16th century. Motecuhzoma II, also known as Montezuma II, was the Aztec emperor who ruled during this period and famously encountered Cortés and his Spanish conquistadors in 1519.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Montezuma can be found in the accounts of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a Spanish soldier who participated in the conquest of Mexico and wrote about it in his memoir "The True History of the Conquest of New Spain." Díaz del Castillo frequently refers to Montezuma II in his writings.

In the centuries following the Spanish conquest, the name Montezuma became associated with the legacy of the Aztec empire and its downfall. Some notable historical figures bearing the surname Montezuma include Carlos Montezuma (1866-1923), a Yavapai-Apache physician and activist, and Pedro Montezuma (c. 1598-1638), a Yaqui leader who led a rebellion against Spanish colonization in Mexico.

Other famous individuals with the surname Montezuma include Antonio de Montezuma (1628-1672), a Spanish explorer and colonizer who founded the city of San Francisco de Quito in present-day Ecuador, and José Mariano Montezuma (1808-1876), a Mexican general and politician who served as governor of Chihuahua.

While the surname Montezuma is most closely associated with Mexico and the legacy of the Aztec empire, it has also been adopted by individuals of various ethnicities and nationalities around the world, likely due to the fame and historical significance of the name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Montezuma

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

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

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

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