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

Rodríguez, 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 Rodríguez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rodríguez in America

Rodríguez is the 74826th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rodríguez surname appeared 258 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Rodríguez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rodríguez 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 Rodríguez

The surname Rodriguez is of Spanish origin, derived from the patronymic "Rodrigo" or "Ruiz", which means "son of Rodrigo". The name Rodrigo itself is of Visigothic origin, and is believed to have been formed from the Germanic elements "Hrod" (fame) and "ric" (power or ruler).

Rodriguez is a common surname in Spain and Latin American countries, particularly in Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, where it is one of the most prevalent surnames. The earliest recorded instances of the surname can be traced back to medieval Spain, appearing in various documents and records from the 10th century onwards.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, also known as El Cid Campeador (c. 1043 - 1099), a Castilian nobleman and military leader who played a pivotal role in the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors.

Another notable figure with the Rodriguez surname was Alonso Rodriguez (1538 - 1616), a Spanish Jesuit missionary and linguist who worked extensively among the indigenous populations of South America. He is credited with writing one of the earliest grammars of the Quechua language.

In the 16th century, the Rodriguez surname gained prominence with the conquistadors and explorers who accompanied the Spanish colonization of the Americas. One such individual was Diego Rodriguez de Arias y Velázquez (c. 1520 - 1598), a Spanish conquistador who played a significant role in the conquest of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

During the Golden Age of Spanish literature, the poet and playwright Lope Félix de Vega Carpio (1562 - 1635), whose full name was Lope Félix de Vega Carpio y Lasso de la Vega Rodriguez, made significant contributions to the development of the Spanish theater and is considered one of the greatest playwrights in the Spanish language.

In the realm of art, the Spanish painter Pedro Rodriguez de Miranda (1677 - 1766) was a prominent figure of the Baroque period, known for his religious paintings and his work as a court painter for King Philip V of Spain.

The surname Rodriguez has also been associated with various place names in Spain and Latin America, such as Rodriguez de las Regueras, a municipality in the Asturias region of northern Spain, and Rodriguez de Mendoza, a town in the Amazonas region of Peru.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rodríguez

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

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

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

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