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

Tzun, 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 Tzun surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tzun in America

Tzun is the 131379th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tzun surname appeared 129 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 Tzun.

The history of the last name Tzun

The surname "TZUN" is a ancient Maya name that originated in the area of modern-day Guatemala and southern Mexico. It likely evolved from the Mayan word "tzun" which means "eagle". This name dates back centuries to the time of the great Maya civilization which flourished from around 250 AD to 900 AD.

One of the earliest known references to the name Tzun comes from hieroglyphic inscriptions found at the ancient Maya city of Tikal. These inscriptions, dating from around the 7th century AD, mention a ruler named "K'inich Kan B'ahlam Tzun". This was likely a title meaning "Sun-Eyed Powerful Eagle Tzun".

The name Tzun remained in use among the Maya people throughout the post-classic period after the fall of the major Maya cities. During the Spanish conquest of the region in the 16th century, some records from this time list individuals with the surname. A baptismal record from 1571 in the town of San Antonio Sacatepéquez lists a man named "Juan Tzun".

In later colonial era records from Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico, the name is sometimes spelled slightly differently like "Zun" or "Tzum". These variations likely arose from the challenges of transcribing the Maya language into the Spanish alphabet.

A notable early bearer of the Tzun surname was Pedro Tzun (1757-1811), a Maya noble and community leader from Totonicapán in Guatemala during the late colonial period. Another was José Tzun (1868-1935), a Maya activist and promoter of indigenous rights in early 20th century Guatemala.

Other examples of individuals with the surname Tzun from history include the archaeologist Juan Tzun Canche (1908-1978) who worked at sites like Palenque, and the writer Manuel Tzun Macz (1904-1975) who helped preserve Maya oral traditions and folklore. Rosario Tzun Kox (1933-2003) was a Maya spiritual guide and elder from the Ixil region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tzun

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

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 Tzun 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.

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Tzun, 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!