2000
#8,260
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,689
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.37
Rare Last name
Quijano
Derived from a place name referring to a thicket or bramble patch, likely of Basque origin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,675 Americans carry the last name Quijano. That puts it at #6,570 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.66 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 60,397 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Quijano 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
5.7K
1 in 60,397
Census rank
#6,570
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,949 bearers of the surname Quijano in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.66 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6570th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Quijano, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.6%) and White (7.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Quijano
The surname Quijano originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is derived from the Spanish word "quijano," which means "jawbone" or "cheekbone." This name likely referred to a distinctive facial feature of an early bearer, which was then adopted as a hereditary surname.
The Quijano name can be traced back to the region of Castile in central Spain. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the surname appear in documents from the 13th and 14th centuries in towns and villages around the cities of Valladolid and Burgos.
In the late 15th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the famed Spanish author who wrote the novel "Don Quixote de la Mancha." The protagonist of this literary masterpiece was given the name Alonso Quijano, which may have been inspired by the author's familiarity with the Quijano surname.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Quijano name was Juan Quijano, a Spanish soldier who fought in the Reconquista against the Moors in the 13th century. Another notable figure was Pedro Quijano, a 14th-century nobleman and landowner from the city of Burgos.
In the 16th century, the Quijano family produced several prominent members, including Diego Quijano, a respected jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge in the Spanish royal courts during the reign of King Philip II.
During the colonial era, some Quijano families migrated to Spanish territories in the Americas, particularly to regions like Mexico and Colombia. One such individual was Hernán Quijano, a conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century.
As the Quijano surname spread throughout Spain and its colonies, variations in spelling emerged, such as Quixano and Quijana. However, the original form of Quijano remained the most common.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quijano
Among Census respondents with the surname Quijano, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.6%) and White (7.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Quijano 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 Quijano surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino73.0% · 3,611
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.6% · 823
- White7.1% · 352
- Two or more races2.5% · 122
- Black or African American0.6% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Quijano
Quijano 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
#6,628
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,110
+1,421 bearers (+38.5%)
Per 100,000 1.73
Rank movement Up 1,632 places
2020
#6,570
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,949
-161 bearers (-3.2%)
Per 100,000 1.66
Rank movement Up 58 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,260 | 3,689 | 1.37 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,628 | 5,110 | 1.73 | +1,421 bearers (+38.5%) | Up 1,632 places |
| 2020 | #6,570 | 4,949 | 1.66 | -161 bearers (-3.2%) | Up 58 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 Quijano 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 | #6,628 | #6,570 | 0.9% |
| Count | 5,110 | 4,949 | -3.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.73 | 1.66 | -4.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Quijano bearers went from 5,110 to 4,949 (-3.2% change). The surname moved up 58 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,628 to #6,570.
FAQ
Quijano surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Quijano?
Name Census estimates that about 5,675 living Americans carry the surname Quijano. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 60,397 residents.
How common is Quijano?
Quijano ranks #6,570 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.66 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,949 people with the surname Quijano. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,675), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.66 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.66 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Quijano.
Has Quijano become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Quijano went from 5,110 recorded bearers to 4,949. That is a decrease of 161 (-3.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,628 to #6,570.
What does the Census say about the background of Quijano?
Among Census respondents with the surname Quijano, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.6%) and White (7.1%). 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 Quijano in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (3,611 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Quijano appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (73.0%), Asian/Pacific Islander (16.6%), White (7.1%). 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 Quijano (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 Quijano mean?
Derived from a place name referring to a thicket or bramble patch, likely of Basque origin. 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 Quijano (1.66 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 many people have the last name Quijano?
Find out how many people have the last name Quijano on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.