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

Ossorio, 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 Ossorio surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ossorio in America

Ossorio is the 71886th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ossorio surname appeared 271 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 Ossorio.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ossorio 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 Ossorio

The surname Ossorio has its origins in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Basque word "oso," meaning "bear," and likely referred to someone who lived near a bear's den or a place where bears were prominent.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ossorio appears in the Becerro Galicano, a 13th-century manuscript that documented noble families in the region. This document mentions a certain Rodrigo Osorio, who was a knight in the service of King Alfonso IX of Leon in the early 1200s.

In the 14th century, the Ossorio family gained prominence in the Kingdom of Castile, with several members serving as advisors and courtiers to the monarchs. One notable figure was Pedro Álvarez de Ossorio (c. 1340-1415), a trusted counselor to King Enrique III and a distinguished military commander during the Reconquista.

The name Ossorio is also closely associated with the town of Osorno, located in the present-day Chilean region of Los Lagos. This settlement was founded in the 16th century by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia and named after the village of Osorno in the Basque Country, likely in honor of an early settler with the Ossorio surname.

Another prominent figure bearing the Ossorio name was Manuel Godoy y Álvarez de Faria (1767-1851), a Spanish statesman who served as Prime Minister and held significant influence during the reign of King Carlos IV. He was granted the title of Prince of the Peace (Príncipe de la Paz) and played a pivotal role in Spanish politics during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the 20th century, the Spanish artist and surrealist painter María Blanchard Ossorio (1900-1975) gained recognition for her vibrant and dreamlike works. She was a member of the Parisian avant-garde circles and had close associations with artists like Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró.

Other notable individuals with the Ossorio surname include the Mexican writer and diplomat Alfonso García Ossorio (1880-1957), the Peruvian politician Luis Ossorio Ostolaza (1916-1983), and the American art collector and philanthropist Alfonso A. Ossorio (1916-1990), who was a patron of artists like Jackson Pollock and Jean Dubuffet.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ossorio

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

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

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

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