2000
#14,325
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,918
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.71
Rare Last name
Peralez
A Spanish surname derived from the place name Peraleda, meaning "pear orchard" or "place with pear trees."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,439 Americans carry the last name Peralez. That puts it at #13,641 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 140,531 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Peralez 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
2.4K
1 in 140,531
Census rank
#13,641
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,127 bearers of the surname Peralez in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13641st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Peralez, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (7.6%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Peralez
The surname Peralez originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish personal name "Pedro" and the suffix "-ez," which denotes the patronymic form, meaning "son of." Thus, Peralez likely translates to "son of Pedro" or "son of Peter."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Peralez surname can be found in the Cartulario de San Millán de la Cogolla, a 10th-century manuscript from the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain. In this document, a certain "Petralez" is mentioned as a landowner in the area.
During the Middle Ages, the Peralez family is known to have held properties and lands in various regions of Spain, including Castile, Aragon, and Andalusia. Some notable individuals bearing this surname from this period include Rodrigo Peralez, a nobleman and military commander who fought in the Reconquista against the Moors in the 13th century.
As the Spanish empire expanded, the Peralez name spread to the Americas during the colonial era. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname in the New World is that of Juan Peralez, a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century.
In the 17th century, a branch of the Peralez family settled in the region of New Mexico, where they became prominent landowners and ranchers. One of the most famous figures from this lineage is Manuel Peralez, a wealthy hacendado (landowner) and military leader who played a significant role in the defense of the region against Apache and Comanche raids in the late 18th century.
Another notable individual with the Peralez surname is María Josefa Peralez (1759-1838), a Spanish-Mexican landowner and philanthropist who donated a substantial portion of her fortune to various charitable causes in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico.
In the 19th century, José María Peralez (1810-1878) was a prominent lawyer, politician, and diplomat from Mexico who served as the country's ambassador to the United States and several European nations.
The Peralez surname has also been associated with various places and geographical features throughout Spain and Latin America. For example, there is a town called Peralejo in the province of Salamanca, Spain, and a Peralez River in the state of Coahuila, Mexico.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Peralez
Among Census respondents with the surname Peralez, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (7.6%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Peralez 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 Peralez surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.4% · 1,923
- White7.6% · 162
- Two or more races0.8% · 17
- Black or African American0.4% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Peralez
Peralez 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
#13,525
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,243
+325 bearers (+16.9%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Up 800 places
2020
#13,641
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,127
-116 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Down 116 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,325 | 1,918 | 0.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,525 | 2,243 | 0.76 | +325 bearers (+16.9%) | Up 800 places |
| 2020 | #13,641 | 2,127 | 0.71 | -116 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 116 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 Peralez 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 | #13,525 | #13,641 | -0.9% |
| Count | 2,243 | 2,127 | -5.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.76 | 0.71 | -6.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Peralez bearers went from 2,243 to 2,127 (-5.2% change). The surname moved down 116 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,525 to #13,641.
FAQ
Peralez surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Peralez?
Name Census estimates that about 2,439 living Americans carry the surname Peralez. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 140,531 residents.
How common is Peralez?
Peralez ranks #13,641 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 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 2,127 people with the surname Peralez. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,439), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 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 Peralez.
Has Peralez become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Peralez went from 2,243 recorded bearers to 2,127. That is a decrease of 116 (-5.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,525 to #13,641.
What does the Census say about the background of Peralez?
Among Census respondents with the surname Peralez, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (7.6%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Peralez in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (1,923 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Peralez appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (90.4%), White (7.6%), Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Peralez (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 Peralez mean?
A Spanish surname derived from the place name Peraleda, meaning "pear orchard" or "place with pear trees." 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 Peralez (0.71 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 common is the surname Peralez?
If you just want to know how many Americans have the surname Peralez, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.