2000
#12,347
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,308
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.86
Rare Last name
Paramo
A Spanish toponymic surname referring to someone living near a plateau or moorland.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,538 Americans carry the last name Paramo. That puts it at #9,981 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 96,878 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Paramo 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
3.5K
1 in 96,878
Census rank
#9,981
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,085 bearers of the surname Paramo in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9981st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Paramo, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Paramo
The surname Paramo has its origins in the Spanish language and can be traced back to the 16th century, when it was primarily found in the regions of Castile and Aragon in Spain. The name is believed to be derived from the Spanish word "paramo," which means a bleak, treeless plateau or moorland, suggesting that the earliest bearers of this surname may have resided in such a geographical area.
One of the earliest known references to the surname Paramo can be found in the records of the Spanish Inquisition, where a certain Francisco Paramo was mentioned in 1572 as a resident of Seville. Another early recorded instance is from the town of Calatayud in Aragon, where a family by the name of Paramo was documented in the local parish records dating back to the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, the surname Paramo began to spread beyond Spain, particularly to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. One notable individual bearing this name was Pedro de Paramo, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico in the 1520s and later became an influential landowner in the region of Michoacán.
During the 18th century, the Paramo surname gained prominence in various parts of Spain and its territories. Juan Paramo y Somoza (1710-1784), a Spanish jurist and author from Galicia, wrote several influential works on legal theory and philosophy. Another notable figure was Fray José Paramo (1735-1802), a Franciscan friar and historian from Guanajuato, Mexico, who authored a comprehensive history of the Franciscan order in the New World.
In the 19th century, the Paramo surname continued to appear in various historical records and documents. One prominent individual was Mariano Paramo y Muñoz (1825-1888), a Spanish politician and lawyer who served as the Minister of Justice under the reign of King Alfonso XII.
As the Paramo surname spread throughout the Spanish-speaking world, it also found its way to other regions, such as the Philippines, which was a Spanish colony until the late 19th century. One notable bearer of the name from this era was Tomás Paramo (1858-1942), a Filipino lawyer and revolutionary who actively participated in the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paramo
Among Census respondents with the surname Paramo, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Paramo 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 Paramo surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.7% · 2,921
- White4.4% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 9
- Black or African American0.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
- Two or more races0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Paramo
Paramo 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
#9,691
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,348
+1,040 bearers (+45.1%)
Per 100,000 1.13
Rank movement Up 2,656 places
2020
#9,981
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,085
-263 bearers (-7.9%)
Per 100,000 1.03
Rank movement Down 290 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,347 | 2,308 | 0.86 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,691 | 3,348 | 1.13 | +1,040 bearers (+45.1%) | Up 2,656 places |
| 2020 | #9,981 | 3,085 | 1.03 | -263 bearers (-7.9%) | Down 290 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 Paramo 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 | #9,691 | #9,981 | -3.0% |
| Count | 3,348 | 3,085 | -7.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.13 | 1.03 | -8.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Paramo bearers went from 3,348 to 3,085 (-7.9% change). The surname moved down 290 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,691 to #9,981.
FAQ
Paramo surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Paramo?
Name Census estimates that about 3,538 living Americans carry the surname Paramo. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 96,878 residents.
How common is Paramo?
Paramo ranks #9,981 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,085 people with the surname Paramo. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,538), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Paramo.
Has Paramo become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Paramo went from 3,348 recorded bearers to 3,085. That is a decrease of 263 (-7.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,691 to #9,981.
What does the Census say about the background of Paramo?
Among Census respondents with the surname Paramo, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Paramo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (2,921 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Paramo appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (94.7%), White (4.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Paramo (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 Paramo mean?
A Spanish toponymic surname referring to someone living near a plateau or moorland. 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 Paramo (1.03 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 Americans have the surname Paramo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.