2000
#17,952
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,435
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.53
Rare Last name
Salvatierra
A toponymic surname of Spanish origin referring to someone from a place called Salvatierra, meaning "safe land."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,485 Americans carry the last name Salvatierra. That puts it at #13,438 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.72 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 137,929 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Salvatierra surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 137,929
Census rank
#13,438
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,167 bearers of the surname Salvatierra in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.72 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13438th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Salvatierra, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%) and White (5.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Salvatierra
The surname Salvatierra has its origins in Spain, dating back to the medieval period. It is a compound word derived from the Spanish "salva" meaning "to save" and "tierra" meaning "land" or "earth." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who was responsible for safeguarding or protecting land, perhaps a landowner or a feudal lord.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Salvatierra can be found in the Repartimiento de Sevilla, a document from the 13th century that details the distribution of land and properties in the city of Seville following its conquest by King Ferdinand III of Castile in 1248. This document mentions several individuals with the surname Salvatierra, indicating that they were among the Castilian noblemen and soldiers who participated in the conquest and received land grants in the region.
The name Salvatierra is also associated with several municipalities and towns in Spain, such as Salvatierra de los Barros in Extremadura, Salvatierra de Miño in Galicia, and Salvatierra de Álava in the Basque Country. These place names likely originated from the same root words as the surname, suggesting that the name may have been derived from a person's connection to these locations.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Salvatierra was Gonzalo de Salvatierra, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the 16th century. He was born around 1490 and played a significant role in the famous Battle of Otumba in 1520.
Another notable figure bearing the surname Salvatierra was Luis de Salvatierra, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in the 17th century. He was born in 1600 and is known for his missionary work among the indigenous peoples of the region that is now part of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. He established several missions and worked tirelessly to convert the native populations to Christianity.
In the 18th century, Pedro de Salvatierra was a Spanish military officer and explorer who played a crucial role in the colonization of the Baja California peninsula. He was born in 1668 and is credited with founding the first permanent Spanish settlement in the region, the Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, in 1697.
Moving into the 19th century, José María Salvatierra y Barriales was a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as a deputy in the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament) during the reign of Isabella II. He was born in 1808 and was a prominent figure in the liberal movement of his time.
Finally, in the 20th century, Manuel Salvatierra was a Spanish painter and sculptor who gained recognition for his Cubist and Surrealist works. He was born in 1904 and is considered one of the most influential artists of the Spanish avant-garde movement in the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Salvatierra
Among Census respondents with the surname Salvatierra, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%) and White (5.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Salvatierra bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Salvatierra surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.1% · 1,910
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 130
- White5.5% · 119
- Two or more races0.2% · 5
- Black or African American0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Salvatierra
Salvatierra appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#14,761
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,012
+577 bearers (+40.2%)
Per 100,000 0.68
Rank movement Up 3,191 places
2020
#13,438
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,167
+155 bearers (+7.7%)
Per 100,000 0.72
Rank movement Up 1,323 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #17,952 | 1,435 | 0.53 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,761 | 2,012 | 0.68 | +577 bearers (+40.2%) | Up 3,191 places |
| 2020 | #13,438 | 2,167 | 0.72 | +155 bearers (+7.7%) | Up 1,323 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Salvatierra surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,761 | #13,438 | 9.0% |
| Count | 2,012 | 2,167 | 7.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.68 | 0.72 | 6.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Salvatierra bearers went from 2,012 to 2,167 (+7.7% change). The surname moved up 1,323 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,761 to #13,438.
FAQ
Salvatierra surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Salvatierra?
Name Census estimates that about 2,485 living Americans carry the surname Salvatierra. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 137,929 residents.
How common is Salvatierra?
Salvatierra ranks #13,438 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.72 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,167 people with the surname Salvatierra. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,485), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.72 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.72 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Salvatierra.
Has Salvatierra become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Salvatierra went from 2,012 recorded bearers to 2,167. That is an increase of 155 (+7.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,761 to #13,438.
What does the Census say about the background of Salvatierra?
Among Census respondents with the surname Salvatierra, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%) and White (5.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Salvatierra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.1% (1,910 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Salvatierra appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (88.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%), White (5.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Salvatierra (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Salvatierra mean?
A toponymic surname of Spanish origin referring to someone from a place called Salvatierra, meaning "safe land." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Salvatierra (0.72 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Salvatierra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.