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

Pastrana, 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 Pastrana surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pastrana in America

Pastrana is the 6943rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pastrana surname appeared 4,830 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Pastrana.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pastrana 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 Pastrana

The surname Pastrana is believed to have originated in Spain, specifically in the region of Castile. It likely emerged during the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century.

Pastrana is derived from the Spanish place name "Pastrana," which is a town located in the province of Guadalajara, in the Castile-La Mancha region of central Spain. The name itself is thought to have its roots in the Latin word "pastra," meaning "pasture" or "grazing land."

One of the earliest known references to the surname Pastrana can be found in the Becerro de las Behetrías, a medieval manuscript that documented the ownership of lands and properties in Castile during the 14th century. The name appears in connection with the town of Pastrana, suggesting that early bearers of the surname may have been landowners or residents of that area.

In the 15th century, there are records of a nobleman named Juan Ramírez de Pastrana, who served as a diplomat and ambassador for the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. His birth and death dates are uncertain, but he is believed to have lived during the latter half of the 15th century.

Another notable figure with the surname Pastrana was Gregoria Pastrana, a Spanish woman born in 1834 who was exhibited as a "bearded lady" in circuses and sideshows across Europe and the United States due to a rare genetic condition that caused excessive hair growth on her face and body. She died in 1860 at the age of 26.

In the 17th century, a Spanish painter named Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo Pastrana (1612-1667) gained recognition for his works, particularly his portraits of the Spanish royal family.

During the colonial era, the Pastrana surname also spread to the Americas, with bearers of the name settling in various Spanish territories, including parts of Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.

One prominent individual with the Pastrana surname was Misael Pastrana Borrero (1923-1997), a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1970 to 1974.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pastrana

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

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

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

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