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

Palos, 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 Palos surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Palos in America

Palos is the 11040th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Palos surname appeared 2,880 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Palos.

We can also compare 2010 data for Palos 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 Palos

The surname PALOS is believed to have originated in Spain, likely during the medieval period. It is derived from the Spanish word "palo," which means "stick" or "pole." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who worked with sticks or poles, such as a woodworker or a pole maker.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname PALOS can be found in various historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries in regions like Catalonia, Valencia, and Aragon. Some records mention individuals with variations of the name, such as Palos, Palo, or Palos de Valencia.

One notable historical reference to the surname PALOS is in the context of the Spanish exploration of the Americas. Rodrigo de Triana, a sailor on Christopher Columbus's expedition in 1492, is sometimes referred to as Rodrigo de Triana Palos, suggesting a connection to the town of Palos de la Frontera in Huelva, Spain, where Columbus set sail.

In the 16th century, a prominent individual with the surname PALOS was Juan de Palos, a Spanish explorer and navigator who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expeditions to Mexico in the 1520s.

Another notable figure from the same century was Bartolomé de Palos, a Spanish military commander who played a significant role in the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in the late 1500s.

Moving forward to the 17th century, we find Juan de Palos Saavedra, a Spanish playwright and poet who lived from around 1620 to 1670.

In the 18th century, José de Palos y Navarro was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Philippines from 1784 to 1787.

Lastly, in the 19th century, there was Emilio Palos Ruiz, a Spanish politician and lawyer who was born in 1843 and served as a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Palos

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

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

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

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