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

Valdez, 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 Valdez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Valdez in America

Valdez is the 244th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Valdez surname appeared 124,995 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 42 people would have the surname Valdez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Valdez 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 Valdez

The surname Valdez has its origins in Spain and is derived from the Spanish words "val" meaning valley and "dez", a patronymic suffix indicating "son of". It was likely first used as a descriptive name for someone who lived in or came from a particular valley.

The name can be traced back to medieval times in Spain, with early records showing variations such as Valdés and Valdes. It is possible that the name may have been mentioned in the Repartimiento de Sevilla, a 13th-century document detailing the distribution of land and property in Seville after the Christian conquest.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Diego Garcia de Valdés, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the 16th century. Another notable figure was Juan de Valdés (c.1500-1541), a Spanish religious writer and early Protestant reformer.

The Valdez surname later spread to Spanish colonies in the Americas, particularly Mexico and areas of the southwestern United States. It is believed that some of the earliest Valdez families in the New World settled in what is now New Mexico in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Over time, the name has become associated with various place names, such as Valdez, Alaska, and Valdez, Venezuela. Some notable individuals with the Valdez surname include Diego Valdez (1778-1866), a Mexican military officer and politician, and Benigno Valdez (1921-2008), a Mexican artist known for his murals and paintings.

Other historical figures bearing the Valdez name include Luis Valdez (born 1940), an American playwright, actor, and filmmaker known for his work in Chicano theater, and Adrián Valdez (1906-1989), a Mexican composer and conductor. Additionally, Pedro Valdez (1923-2013) was a Mexican bullfighter who achieved significant fame in his career.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Valdez

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

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

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

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