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

Vallejo, 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 Vallejo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vallejo in America

Vallejo is the 1881st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vallejo surname appeared 19,117 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Vallejo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vallejo 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 Vallejo

The surname Vallejo has its origins in Spain, tracing back to the medieval era. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "valle," meaning valley, and the suffix "jo," which indicates a diminutive or a place name. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived in or near a small valley.

The earliest recorded instances of the Vallejo surname can be found in various historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries in the regions of Castile and Aragon. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Pedro Vallejo, a knight who fought alongside King Alfonso XI of Castile during the Reconquista, the campaign to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Moorish rule in the 14th century.

In the 15th century, the Vallejo name appeared in the records of the Spanish Inquisition, with Juan Vallejo being one of the notable figures prosecuted for his alleged involvement in heretical activities. This provides insight into the presence of the Vallejo family during this tumultuous period in Spanish history.

As the Spanish Empire expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Vallejo surname spread to the Americas, with many Vallejos settling in various parts of the New World. One notable bearer of this name was Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, a Mexican-American military officer, and politician who played a significant role in the history of California during the Mexican and early American eras. He was born in 1808 and lived until 1890.

Another prominent figure with the Vallejo surname was the Peruvian poet César Vallejo, widely regarded as one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. Born in 1892, Vallejo's works, such as "Los Heraldos Negros" and "Trilce," were instrumental in shaping modern Hispanic poetry. He passed away in 1938.

In the realm of art, the Spanish painter Camilo José Vallejo, born in 1899 and died in 1954, gained recognition for his Cubist and Surrealist works. His paintings, often depicting scenes of daily life in Spain, are part of the collections of several renowned museums worldwide.

While the Vallejo surname has its roots in Spain, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly Latin America and the United States, where it continues to be a prominent Hispanic surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vallejo

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

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

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

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