2000
#17,209
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,517
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.56
Rare Last name
Quintanar
A habitational surname referring to someone from any of the various places named Quintanar in Spain.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,590 Americans carry the last name Quintanar. That puts it at #13,001 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.76 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 132,338 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Quintanar 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
2.6K
1 in 132,338
Census rank
#13,001
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,259 bearers of the surname Quintanar in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.76 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13001st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Quintanar, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (7.7%) and Two or More Races (0.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Quintanar
The surname Quintanar has its origins in Spain and dates back to the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Basque word "kintana," which means "farmstead" or "small estate." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived on or owned a small farm or estate.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Quintanar can be found in the Cartulary of San Millán de la Cogolla, a collection of medieval manuscripts from the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spain. The name appears in a document dated 1050, where a person named Sancho Quintanar is mentioned.
The surname Quintanar is closely associated with the region of La Mancha in central Spain, particularly the town of Quintanar de la Orden, which is believed to have derived its name from the same root as the surname. This town was an important stronghold of the Order of Santiago during the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors.
Notable individuals with the surname Quintanar include:
1. Pedro Quintanar y Duarte (1660-1733), a Spanish jurist and legal scholar who served as a magistrate in the Royal Chancery of Granada.
2. Jerónimo Quintanar (1677-1744), a Spanish military officer and engineer who participated in the defense of Cartagena de Indias (now in Colombia) against the British in 1741.
3. Álvaro Quintanar y Castillo (1702-1779), a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Panama from 1753 to 1762.
4. María Quintanar y Obregón (1810-1892), a Spanish-born landowner and philanthropist who donated considerable portions of her estate to establish schools and hospitals in Baja California, Mexico.
5. Javier Quintanar (1924-2003), a Mexican actor and filmmaker who appeared in several classic Mexican films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
While the surname Quintanar is relatively uncommon outside of Spain and Latin America, it holds a significant place in the history and culture of these regions, reflecting the influence of the Spanish language and the legacy of the Reconquista.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quintanar
Among Census respondents with the surname Quintanar, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (7.7%) and Two or More Races (0.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Quintanar 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 Quintanar surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.6% · 2,047
- White7.7% · 175
- Two or more races0.7% · 16
- Black or African American0.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Quintanar
Quintanar 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
#13,727
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,205
+688 bearers (+45.4%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Up 3,482 places
2020
#13,001
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,259
+54 bearers (+2.4%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Up 726 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #17,209 | 1,517 | 0.56 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,727 | 2,205 | 0.75 | +688 bearers (+45.4%) | Up 3,482 places |
| 2020 | #13,001 | 2,259 | 0.76 | +54 bearers (+2.4%) | Up 726 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 Quintanar 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 | #13,727 | #13,001 | 5.3% |
| Count | 2,205 | 2,259 | 2.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.75 | 0.76 | 0.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Quintanar bearers went from 2,205 to 2,259 (+2.4% change). The surname moved up 726 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,727 to #13,001.
FAQ
Quintanar surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Quintanar?
Name Census estimates that about 2,590 living Americans carry the surname Quintanar. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 132,338 residents.
How common is Quintanar?
Quintanar ranks #13,001 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.76 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 2,259 people with the surname Quintanar. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,590), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.76 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.76 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 Quintanar.
Has Quintanar become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Quintanar went from 2,205 recorded bearers to 2,259. That is an increase of 54 (+2.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,727 to #13,001.
What does the Census say about the background of Quintanar?
Among Census respondents with the surname Quintanar, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (7.7%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Quintanar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (2,047 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Quintanar appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (90.6%), White (7.7%), Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Quintanar (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 Quintanar mean?
A habitational surname referring to someone from any of the various places named Quintanar in Spain. 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 Quintanar (0.76 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 Quintanar?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Quintanar at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.