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

Salgado, 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 Salgado surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Salgado in America

Salgado is the 759th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Salgado surname appeared 45,469 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 15 people would have the surname Salgado.

We can also compare 2010 data for Salgado 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 Salgado

The surname Salgado originated in Portugal and Spain during the medieval era. It is derived from the Portuguese word "salgado," meaning salted or salty, which likely referred to someone who worked with salt or lived near salt marshes or salt mines.

In its earliest recorded use, the name appeared in the "Livro de Linhagens" (Book of Lineages), a 14th-century Portuguese manuscript documenting noble families. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was João Salgado, a Portuguese nobleman born in the late 13th century.

The name Salgado can also be traced back to various place names in Portugal and Spain, such as Salgadelos, a parish in the municipality of Barcelos, Portugal, and Salgado, a municipality in the province of Zamora, Spain. These place names likely influenced the adoption and spread of the surname.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Salgado. One such person was Pedro Salgado (1575-1626), a Spanish composer and organist who served at the court of King Philip III of Spain. Another notable figure was Sebastián Salgado (1713-1790), a Spanish Jesuit missionary and explorer who traveled extensively in South America and wrote about the indigenous peoples of the region.

In the 19th century, Plácido Salgado (1841-1915) was a Brazilian politician and journalist who played a significant role in the abolitionist movement and the establishment of the Brazilian Republic. Another notable bearer of the name was Sebastião Salgado (born 1944), a Brazilian photojournalist and social documentary photographer known for his powerful black-and-white photographs depicting the struggles and resilience of people around the world.

In more recent times, Adriana Salgado (born 1962) is a Brazilian businesswoman and philanthropist who has been involved in various social and environmental initiatives. Additionally, Javier Salgado (born 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who has played for several clubs in Spain and abroad.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Salgado

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!