2000
#9,957
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,990
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.11
Rare Last name
Murguia
A Basque surname derived from a place name meaning "by the wall" or "place of the wall."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,571 Americans carry the last name Murguia. That puts it at #7,967 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.33 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 74,985 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Murguia 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
4.6K
1 in 74,985
Census rank
#7,967
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,986 bearers of the surname Murguia in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.33 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7967th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Murguia, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Murguia
The surname Murguia originated in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France. It is derived from the Basque words "mur" meaning hill and "gui" meaning people, essentially translating to "people of the hill." The name dates back to the early medieval period, around the 8th to 10th centuries.
The Basque region was known for its rugged, hilly terrain, and the name likely referred to people who lived in or were associated with these hill settlements. It's believed that the earliest bearers of the name were from the Navarre region, which spans parts of both modern-day Spain and France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Murguia name appears in the Becerro Antiguo de Guipúzcoa, a 14th-century manuscript that documented noble families and landowners in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa. The name is also found in various legal documents and records from the region during the 15th and 16th centuries.
As the Basque people migrated and settled in different parts of Spain and beyond, the Murguia name spread to other regions. In the 16th century, there are records of individuals with the surname in Cantabria, a coastal region adjacent to the Basque Country.
Notable individuals with the Murguia surname include Tomás Murguia (1646-1718), a Spanish Baroque painter known for his religious works, and Juan Bautista Murguia (1783-1854), a Spanish military officer and governor of Puerto Rico from 1846 to 1851.
In the 19th century, Adolfo Murguia (1827-1898) was a prominent Mexican lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Porfirio Díaz. Another notable figure was Manuel Murguia (1833-1923), a Galician writer, historian, and advocate for Galician culture and language revival.
In the 20th century, José Murguia (1927-1997) was a Mexican-American artist and muralist known for his vibrant depictions of Chicano life and culture.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Murguia
Among Census respondents with the surname Murguia, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Murguia 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 Murguia surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.3% · 3,760
- White5.0% · 198
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 9
- Two or more races0.2% · 7
- Black or African American0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Murguia
Murguia 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
#7,983
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,141
+1,151 bearers (+38.5%)
Per 100,000 1.40
Rank movement Up 1,974 places
2020
#7,967
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,986
-155 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 1.33
Rank movement Up 16 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,957 | 2,990 | 1.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,983 | 4,141 | 1.40 | +1,151 bearers (+38.5%) | Up 1,974 places |
| 2020 | #7,967 | 3,986 | 1.33 | -155 bearers (-3.7%) | Up 16 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 Murguia 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 | #7,983 | #7,967 | 0.2% |
| Count | 4,141 | 3,986 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.40 | 1.33 | -4.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Murguia bearers went from 4,141 to 3,986 (-3.7% change). The surname moved up 16 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,983 to #7,967.
FAQ
Murguia surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Murguia?
Name Census estimates that about 4,571 living Americans carry the surname Murguia. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 74,985 residents.
How common is Murguia?
Murguia ranks #7,967 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.33 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 3,986 people with the surname Murguia. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,571), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.33 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.33 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 Murguia.
Has Murguia become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Murguia went from 4,141 recorded bearers to 3,986. That is a decrease of 155 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #7,983 to #7,967.
What does the Census say about the background of Murguia?
Among Census respondents with the surname Murguia, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Murguia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (3,760 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Murguia appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (94.3%), White (5.0%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Murguia (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 Murguia mean?
A Basque surname derived from a place name meaning "by the wall" or "place of the wall." 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 Murguia (1.33 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 share the surname Murguia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.