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

Zempoalteca, 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 Zempoalteca surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zempoalteca in America

Zempoalteca is the 88685th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zempoalteca surname appeared 209 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 Zempoalteca.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zempoalteca 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 Zempoalteca

The surname Zempoalteca appears to have its origins in Mexico, specifically from the Nahuatl-speaking areas. Nahuatl is the language of the Aztecs and is still spoken by many indigenous people in central Mexico. The name likely originates from the word "Cempoal" or "Zempoal" in Nahuatl, which translates to "twenty". The suffix "teca" is often used to denote a person from a particular place, so Zempoalteca may historically identify a person from a region associated with the number twenty.

One prominent area in central Mexico is the ancient city of Cempoala, a major Totonac city-state before the Spanish conquest. It is plausible that the surname Zempoalteca was initially used to describe people originating from Cempoala, meaning "person from Cempoala". The association with the number twenty could also denote an important cultural or calendrical significance, considering how deeply numbers were woven into the fabric of Mesoamerican societies.

Historical records from the colonial period, particularly church and municipal records, occasionally highlight the name Zempoalteca. These records, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, would have been written by Spanish administrators and clergy who interacted with indigenous populations. Manuscripts such as the Codex Mendoza, an Aztec codical created post-conquest to record tributes and obligations, might sporadically reference individuals with indigenous surnames, including Zempoalteca.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname date back to the late 1500s. An example is the baptismal record of Juan Zempoalteca in 1571 in a church in what is now Veracruz. Other early records include Catalina Zempoalteca who appeared in marriage registries around 1602. These documents show the spread and ongoing use of the surname as native individuals were converted and recorded in Christian registries.

Another historical figure includes Diego Zempoalteca, a local leader noted in the 1648 municipal records of Puebla. His role in mediating land disputes between indigenous communities and Spanish settlers indicates that the name carried a certain community standing. Similarly, records from the late 1700s list María Ana Zempoalteca as a millet trader in the markets of Mexico City, indicating the movement and influence of Zempoalpeople beyond their original locale.

By the 19th century, names such as José Zempoalteca, born in 1825, appear in military rolls and election registries. He was known for his local political activism in the state of Tlaxcala, emphasizing the enduring cultural identity associated with the surname. Finally, another notable figure would be Andrés Zempoalteca, distinguished in records from the 1880s as one of the early Nahuatl language scholars promoting the preservation of indigenous languages and traditions in a rapidly modernizing Mexico.

These examples demonstrate the rich historical tapestry woven by individuals carrying the surname Zempoalteca, from pre-Hispanic times through the colonial era, into the post-independence period of Mexico.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zempoalteca

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

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

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

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