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

Talaga, 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 Talaga surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Talaga in America

Talaga is the 36337th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Talaga surname appeared 616 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 Talaga.

We can also compare 2010 data for Talaga 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 Talaga

The surname Talaga originates from the Philippines and is believed to have its roots in the Tagalog language, one of the major languages spoken in the country. The name is thought to be derived from the word "talaga," which means "truly" or "really" in Tagalog.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Talaga can be traced back to the late 16th century, during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Many Filipino surnames were derived from Spanish and local words, with Talaga being one of them.

One of the earliest documented references to the name Talaga can be found in the "Relación de las Islas Filipinas" (Account of the Philippine Islands), a historical account written by the Spanish friar and historian Pedro Chirino in the early 17th century.

In the 18th century, a prominent figure bearing the surname Talaga was Juan Talaga, a Filipino revolutionary who fought against the Spanish colonial rule. Born in 1756, he was a key figure in the Andres Novales Revolt of 1823-1824, one of the earliest uprisings against the Spanish government in the Philippines.

Another notable individual with the surname Talaga was Ciriaco Talaga, a Filipino lawyer and politician who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He served as a member of the Philippine Commission and played a significant role in the drafting of the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916.

During the American colonial period in the Philippines, the surname Talaga was also associated with several prominent figures. Mariano Talaga, born in 1880, was a Filipino educator and writer who contributed to the development of the Tagalog language and literature.

In more recent history, a well-known bearer of the surname Talaga was Leopoldo Talaga, a Filipino writer and journalist who lived from 1924 to 2011. He was renowned for his contributions to Philippine literature and received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas (National Servant of Balagtas Award) in 1993.

The surname Talaga has also been linked to various place names in the Philippines, particularly in the regions where the Tagalog language is widely spoken. For example, there is a barangay (village) called Talaga in the municipality of Obando, Bulacan province, located in the central Luzon region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Talaga

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

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

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

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