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 85357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rodríguez surname appeared 219 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 Rodrigeuz originated in Spain and Portugal during the Middle Ages. It is a patronymic derived from the personal name Rodrigo, which itself is a Germanic name composed of the elements "rod" meaning "famous" and "ric" meaning "power" or "ruler." The earliest known bearer of the name was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, better known as El Cid, a Castilian nobleman and military leader who lived from around 1043 to 1099.

In the 12th century, the name Rodrigeuz appeared in various medieval Spanish and Portuguese records and manuscripts, such as the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris and the Cantigas de Santa Maria. These early references often spelled the name with variations like Rodericus, Rodric, and Rodrico.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Rodrigeuz surname can be found in the Liber Feudorum, a 13th-century Catalan legal document, which mentions a certain Petrus Rodrigeuz de Lerida. Another notable early bearer of the name was the 15th-century Spanish poet and writer Alfonso Rodríguez de Almela.

In Portugal, the Rodrigeuz surname is often associated with the town of Rodrigues, located in the district of Viseu. This place name is believed to be derived from the personal name Rodrigo and was likely the origin of many Portuguese families with the Rodrigeuz surname.

Some other notable historical figures with the surname Rodrigeuz include:

1. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1499-1543), a Portuguese explorer who sailed for Spain and is known for exploring the West Coast of North America.
2. Sebastián Rodríguez de Cermeño (c. 1551-c. 1595), a Spanish explorer and navigator who explored the coasts of California and Oregon.
3. Alonso Rodríguez Navarro (c. 1578-1628), a Spanish painter of the Baroque period, known for his religious works.
4. Ventura Rodríguez (1717-1785), a Spanish architect and one of the leading figures of the Spanish Enlightenment architecture.
5. José Rodríguez Losada (1776-1853), a Spanish military officer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Spain in 1833.

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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