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

Vivar, 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 Vivar surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vivar in America

Vivar is the 10200th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vivar surname appeared 3,158 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Vivar.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vivar 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 Vivar

The surname Vivar originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "vivir," meaning "to live." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to someone who lived in a particular place or had a distinctive way of life.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Vivar can be found in the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th-century manuscript that documented the history and traditions of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. This manuscript mentions a person named Rodrigo Vivar, who lived in the town of Vivar, located near the city of Burgos in northern Spain.

The surname Vivar is also connected to the legendary Spanish hero El Cid, whose birth name was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043-1099). El Cid was a renowned military leader and nobleman who played a crucial role in the Reconquista, the centuries-long struggle to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Moorish rule.

Another notable figure with the surname Vivar was Hernán Vivar (c. 1480-1552), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru alongside Francisco Pizarro. Vivar is credited with writing one of the earliest chronicles of the conquest, titled "Crónica de la Conquista del Perú."

In the literary realm, the surname Vivar is associated with the Spanish poet and playwright Juan Bautista Diamante y Vivar (1625-1687), who wrote plays and poems in the Baroque style. His most famous work is the play "El honrador de su padre" (The Honorer of His Father).

The surname Vivar also has ties to the town of Vivar del Cid, located in the province of Burgos, Spain. This town was the birthplace of El Cid and is named after him, further solidifying the connection between the surname and the legendary figure.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vivar

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

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

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

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