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

Pastores, 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 Pastores surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pastores in America

Pastores is the 92719th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pastores surname appeared 198 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 Pastores.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pastores 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 Pastores

The surname "PASTORES" is believed to have originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is derived from the Latin word "pastor," meaning "shepherd" or "herdsman." This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname likely worked as shepherds or were associated with the pastoral industry.

The name is thought to have first emerged in the regions of Castile and Aragon, where it was common for individuals to adopt occupational surnames during the late Middle Ages. Historical records from the 13th and 14th centuries show variations of the spelling, such as "Pastoris," "Pastour," and "Pastór."

One of the earliest known references to the surname can be found in the "Libro de la Montería" (Book of the Hunt), a 14th-century manuscript detailing the hunting activities of King Alfonso XI of Castile. The document mentions a certain "Juan Pastores" who served as a royal huntsman.

In the 15th century, the name appears in the archives of the city of Toledo, where a prominent family bearing the surname "Pastores" was involved in the wool trade and owned several flocks of sheep.

During the 16th century, the name spread to other parts of Spain and eventually to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. Notable individuals from this period include Hernán Pastores (1520-1586), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru, and Alonso Pastores (1540-1612), a Jesuit missionary who traveled to New Spain (present-day Mexico) and worked among the indigenous populations.

In the 17th century, Juan Pastores (1615-1680), a Spanish painter from Seville, gained recognition for his religious works and portraits. Another notable figure was María Pastores (1635-1705), a Basque writer and poet who contributed to the revival of Basque literature during the Golden Age.

As the name spread across Europe, variations emerged in different languages. For instance, in Italy, the surname became "Pastori," while in France, it took the form "Pasteur," as in the case of the famous scientist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895).

Throughout its history, the surname "PASTORES" has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, reflecting its humble beginnings as an occupational name associated with the pastoral profession.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pastores

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!