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

Roldán, 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 Roldán surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Roldán in America

Roldán is the 2671st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Roldán surname appeared 13,498 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Roldán.

We can also compare 2010 data for Roldán 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 Roldán

The surname Roldan is of Spanish origin, derived from the personal name Roldán, which is itself a Spanish adaptation of the Old French name Rollant. The name Rollant stems from the Germanic elements "hrod" meaning "fame" and "land" meaning "territory" or "land."

This surname has its roots in the medieval era and is associated with the legendary figure of Roland, a Frankish military leader who served under Charlemagne in the 8th century. Roland was celebrated in the famous medieval French epic poem "La Chanson de Roland" (The Song of Roland), which recounts his exploits and heroic death during the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778 AD.

One of the earliest recorded references to the surname Roldan can be found in the Libro de Repartimiento de Sevilla, a historical document from the 13th century that recorded the distribution of land and properties in the city of Seville after its conquest by the Christian forces in 1248. This document mentions individuals with the surname Roldan among the settlers who received plots of land in the region.

In the 14th century, a prominent figure bearing the surname Roldan was Pedro Roldan, a Spanish conquistador and explorer who participated in the conquest of Cuba and was appointed as the first lieutenant governor of the island by Diego Velázquez in 1511.

During the 16th century, another notable individual with the surname Roldan was Juan Roldan, a Spanish soldier and explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico. He was involved in the conquest of Tenochtitlan and later led an unsuccessful rebellion against Cortés in 1520.

In the realm of literature, one of the most famous individuals with the surname Roldan was Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681), a celebrated Spanish playwright and poet of the Golden Age, who wrote numerous works, including the famous play "La vida es sueño" (Life is a Dream).

Another notable figure with the surname Roldan was Tomás Roldan y Viñolas (1788-1853), a Spanish painter and engraver who was a prominent representative of the Neoclassical and Romantic movements in Spanish art.

The surname Roldan has also been associated with various place names in Spain, such as the town of Roldán in the province of Seville, which likely derived its name from individuals bearing this surname who settled in the area during the Reconquista.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Roldán

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

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

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

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