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

Zaldívar, 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 Zaldívar surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zaldívar in America

Zaldívar is the 13721st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zaldívar surname appeared 2,206 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 Zaldívar.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zaldívar 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 Zaldívar

The surname Zaldivar originates from the Basque region of Spain. It is believed to have emerged in the 15th century or earlier, derived from the Basque words "zaldi" meaning horse and "ibar" meaning valley or meadow, referring to a fertile valley suitable for grazing horses.

Zaldivar is a toponymic surname, meaning it was initially taken from a place name in the Basque Country. The earliest recorded mentions of the name are found in municipal records and parish registries from villages in the provinces of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Zaldivar name was Juan de Zaldivar, a Basque soldier who served in the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century. He was part of the expeditions led by Hernán Cortés and later settled in the region around modern-day Guadalajara.

Another notable figure was Pedro de Zaldivar, a 16th-century Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquest of Chile and founded the city of Mendoza in present-day Argentina in 1561.

In the 17th century, the Zaldivar surname appeared in various historical records in the Basque Country, including the baptismal records of the parish church in the town of Zaldivar, located in the province of Bizkaia. This town likely contributed to the widespread use of the surname in the region.

In the 18th century, Ignacio Zaldivar, a Basque-born military officer, served in the Spanish colonial forces in the Americas and played a role in the defense of San Antonio, Texas, during the American Revolutionary War.

During the 19th century, the Zaldivar name gained prominence in Latin American countries, particularly in Mexico and Chile, where many Basque immigrants had settled. One notable bearer was Manuel Zaldivar, a Chilean politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 1860s.

Over the centuries, the Zaldivar surname has seen various spelling variations, including Saldivar, Zaldibar, and Zalduendo, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the Basque region and the influence of other languages in the areas where bearers of the name settled.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zaldívar

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

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

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

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