2000
#1,550
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,257
First available Census row
Per 100,000 7.88
Uncommon Last name
Guillen
A Spanish toponymic surname indicating someone from the town of Guillena in Seville province or Guillén in Lugo province.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 34,163 Americans carry the last name Guillen. That puts it at #1,159 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 9.97 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 10,033 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Guillen surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
34K
1 in 10,033
Census rank
#1,159
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
10.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
30K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 29,792 bearers of the surname Guillen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 9.97 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1159th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Guillen, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Guillen
The surname Guillen originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is derived from the personal name Guillén, which is the Spanish form of the French name Guillaume, meaning "resolute protector" or "tenacious protector." The name can be traced back to the 11th century and is believed to have emerged from the northern Spanish regions of Aragon and Navarra.
In the 13th century, records show the presence of the Guillen family in the city of Valencia, where they held prominent positions in the local government and were involved in trade and commerce. During this time, variations of the spelling, such as Guillén and Guillem, were common.
The Guillen name gained historical significance during the Reconquista, the period of Christian conquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. In the 14th century, a knight named Pero Guillen de Aragón fought alongside King Alfonso XI of Castile and León in the Battle of Río Salado in 1340, where the Christian forces achieved a decisive victory over the Marinid Sultanate.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Guillen surname can be found in the "Libro de Repartimiento de Mallorca" (Book of Distribution of Majorca), a document from the 13th century that recorded the distribution of land and properties among the conquerors of the Balearic Islands. It mentions several individuals with the surname Guillen who received land grants in Majorca.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the Guillen surname. One example is Ferran Guillen Borrassà (1470-1542), a Valencian poet and playwright known for his contributions to the development of Valencian literature. Another is Juan Guillen Ximénez de Urrea (1516-1592), a Spanish nobleman and writer who served as the Viceroy of Aragon.
In the field of art, Juan Guillen Giménez (1865-1958), a Spanish painter and sculptor, gained recognition for his works depicting scenes from everyday life in Valencia. Additionally, Sebastián Guillen Soler (1924-2008), a Spanish artist and illustrator, was renowned for his illustrations in children's books and magazines.
The Guillen surname has also been associated with various place names in Spain, such as the village of Guillen in the province of Teruel and the Guillen River in the province of Valencia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guillen
Among Census respondents with the surname Guillen, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Guillen bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Guillen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.4% · 27,822
- White4.9% · 1,447
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 266
- Black or African American0.4% · 112
- Two or more races0.3% · 91
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 54
Timeline
Historical Census data for Guillen
Guillen appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,166
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 30,153
+8,896 bearers (+41.8%)
Per 100,000 10.22
Rank movement Up 384 places
2020
#1,159
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 29,792
-361 bearers (-1.2%)
Per 100,000 9.97
Rank movement Up 7 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,550 | 21,257 | 7.88 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,166 | 30,153 | 10.22 | +8,896 bearers (+41.8%) | Up 384 places |
| 2020 | #1,159 | 29,792 | 9.97 | -361 bearers (-1.2%) | Up 7 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Guillen surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,166 | #1,159 | 0.6% |
| Count | 30,153 | 29,792 | -1.2% |
| Per 100K | 10.22 | 9.97 | -2.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Guillen bearers went from 30,153 to 29,792 (-1.2% change). The surname moved up 7 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,166 to #1,159.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Guillen
FAQ
Guillen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Guillen?
Name Census estimates that about 34,163 living Americans carry the surname Guillen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 10,033 residents.
How common is Guillen?
Guillen ranks #1,159 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 9.97 per 100,000 residents, which is about 10 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 29,792 people with the surname Guillen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (34,163), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 9.97 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 9.97 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 10 of them to have the surname Guillen.
Has Guillen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Guillen went from 30,153 recorded bearers to 29,792. That is a decrease of 361 (-1.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #1,166 to #1,159.
What does the Census say about the background of Guillen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Guillen, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Guillen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (27,822 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Guillen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (93.4%), White (4.9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Guillen (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Guillen mean?
A Spanish toponymic surname indicating someone from the town of Guillena in Seville province or Guillén in Lugo province. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Guillen (9.97 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Guillen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.