Toledo last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Toledo

A habitational surname referring to someone from the city or province of Toledo, Spain.

Toledo, 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 Toledo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Toledo in America

Toledo is the 1841st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Toledo surname appeared 19,474 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Toledo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Toledo 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 1841 2294 -21.91%
Count 19,474 14,514 29.19%
Proportion per 100k 6.60 5.38 20.37%

The history of the last name Toledo

The surname Toledo originated in Spain, specifically in the city of Toledo, located in the central region of the Iberian Peninsula. The name can be traced back to the 8th century, during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. Toledo was an important city for the Moors, known for its rich cultural heritage and architectural marvels.

The name Toledo is derived from the Arabic word "Tuleyṭulah," which means "the city of tolls" or "the city of taxes." This reflects the city's significance as a center of trade and commerce during the Moorish era. The surname likely emerged among families who lived in or had connections to the city of Toledo.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Toledo can be found in the Libro de Repartimiento de Sevilla, a book that documented the distribution of land and property in Seville after its conquest by the Christian forces in 1248. This book mentions several individuals with the surname Toledo, suggesting that the name had already established itself by that time.

Throughout history, various spellings of the name have been used, such as Tolède, Toletum, and Tolaitola, reflecting the evolution of language and regional variations. The name has also been associated with several notable individuals, including:

  1. Pedro de Toledo (1484-1553), a Spanish nobleman and Viceroy of Naples.
  2. García Álvarez de Toledo (1519-1579), a Spanish military leader and Governor of the Netherlands.
  3. María de Toledo (1490-1549), a Spanish noblewoman and the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
  4. Fernando Álvarez de Toledo (1507-1582), a Spanish military commander and Duke of Alba.
  5. Juan de Toledo (1611-1665), a Spanish sculptor and architect known for his work on the Plaza Mayor in Madrid.

The surname Toledo has also been associated with various place names, such as Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States named after the Spanish city, and Toledo District, a district in Belize that was once part of the Spanish Empire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Toledo

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

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 Toledo was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 8.49% 1,653
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.49% 95
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 5.76% 1,122
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 6.09% 1,186
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.75% 146
Hispanic Origin 78.42% 15,272

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 Toledo has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 8.49% 9.73% -13.61%
Black 0.49% 0.50% -2.02%
Asian and Pacific Islander 5.76% 5.99% -3.91%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 6.09% 8.25% -30.13%
Two or More Races 0.75% 1.65% -75.00%
Hispanic 78.42% 73.89% 5.95%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Toledo last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 13, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/toledo-surname-popularity/.

"Toledo last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/toledo-surname-popularity/. Accessed 13 December, 2024

Toledo last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/toledo-surname-popularity/.

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