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

Ramírez, 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 Ramírez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ramírez in America

Ramírez is the 28th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ramírez surname appeared 557,423 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 189 people would have the surname Ramírez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ramírez 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 Ramírez

The surname Ramirez originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is a patronymic surname derived from the given name Ramiro, which comes from the Germanic words "ragin" meaning counsel and "meri" meaning famous. The name Ramiro was popular among the Visigoths who ruled parts of the Iberian Peninsula before the Muslim conquest in the 8th century.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Ramirez surname is in the Becerro de Behetrías, a 14th-century census document from the reign of King Pedro I of Castile. This document lists several individuals with the Ramirez surname, indicating that the name was already well-established in Spain by that time.

During the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors, several military leaders and nobles with the Ramirez surname played prominent roles. One notable figure was Alonso Ramirez de Arellano, a 14th-century Spanish nobleman and military commander who fought against the Moors in Granada.

As the Spanish empire expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ramirez surname spread to the Americas and other Spanish colonies. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the New World is Pedro Ramirez, a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century.

Several notable figures throughout history have borne the Ramirez surname. These include Diego Ramirez de Haro (1290-1354), a Spanish nobleman and military leader during the Reconquista; Juan Ramirez de Lucena (1430-1501), a Spanish writer and chess theorist; and Ignacio Ramirez (1818-1879), a Mexican philosopher, journalist, and political activist who played a significant role in the Reform War.

Other famous individuals with the Ramirez surname include Ariel Ramirez (1921-2010), an Argentine composer and pianist known for his contributions to the nuevo cancionero movement; and Esteban Ramirez (1930-2004), a Mexican actor who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout his career.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ramírez

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

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

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

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