2000
#1,070
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 29,952
First available Census row
Per 100,000 11.10
Uncommon Last name
Quintero
A Spanish surname indicating a person who comes from Quintería or is the fifth born child.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 46,977 Americans carry the last name Quintero. That puts it at #826 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 13.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 7,296 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Quintero 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Quintero with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
47K
1 in 7,296
Census rank
#826
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
13.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
41K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 40,966 bearers of the surname Quintero in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 13.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 826th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Quintero, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Quintero
The surname Quintero has its origins in Spain and dates back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Spanish word "quinta," which means a small country estate or farm. The name likely originated as a descriptive surname for someone who lived on or worked at such an estate.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Quintero surname can be found in the records of the Inquisition in Seville, Spain, from the late 16th century. The name appeared in various spellings, such as Quintero, Quinteiro, and Quinteiros, indicating regional variations.
The Quintero name has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Juan Quintero, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the early 16th century. He was born around 1490 and died in the late 1550s.
Another prominent figure was Francisco Quintero, a Spanish soldier and explorer who accompanied Hernando de Soto on his expedition to Florida in 1539. He was born in the late 15th century and died around 1543 during the expedition.
In the realm of literature, Diego Quintero Calderón was a Spanish playwright and poet who lived from 1599 to 1657. He was known for his religious plays and was a member of the Spanish Golden Age literary movement.
In the 19th century, Juan Quintero was a Venezuelan military leader and politician who played a significant role in the Venezuelan War of Independence. He was born in 1787 and died in 1855.
More recently, Carlos Quintero was a renowned Venezuelan painter and sculptor who lived from 1904 to 1972. He was known for his vibrant and colorful works that celebrated the Venezuelan landscape and culture.
While the Quintero surname originated in Spain, it has spread to various parts of the world, including Latin America and the United States, due to Spanish colonization and migration patterns. However, its roots can be traced back to the small estates and farms of medieval Spain, where the name first emerged as a descriptor for those who lived or worked on such properties.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quintero
Among Census respondents with the surname Quintero, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Quintero 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 Quintero surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.4% · 38,276
- White4.7% · 1,945
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 275
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 206
- Black or African American0.4% · 150
- Two or more races0.3% · 114
Timeline
Historical Census data for Quintero
Quintero 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
#839
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 41,158
+11,206 bearers (+37.4%)
Per 100,000 13.95
Rank movement Up 231 places
2020
#826
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 40,966
-192 bearers (-0.5%)
Per 100,000 13.71
Rank movement Up 13 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,070 | 29,952 | 11.10 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #839 | 41,158 | 13.95 | +11,206 bearers (+37.4%) | Up 231 places |
| 2020 | #826 | 40,966 | 13.71 | -192 bearers (-0.5%) | Up 13 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 Quintero 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 | #839 | #826 | 1.5% |
| Count | 41,158 | 40,966 | -0.5% |
| Per 100K | 13.95 | 13.71 | -1.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Quintero bearers went from 41,158 to 40,966 (-0.5% change). The surname moved up 13 positions in the national ranking, going from #839 to #826.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Quintero
FAQ
Quintero surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Quintero?
Name Census estimates that about 46,977 living Americans carry the surname Quintero. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 7,296 residents.
How common is Quintero?
Quintero ranks #826 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 13.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 14 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 40,966 people with the surname Quintero. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (46,977), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 13.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 13.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 14 of them to have the surname Quintero.
Has Quintero become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Quintero went from 41,158 recorded bearers to 40,966. That is a decrease of 192 (-0.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #839 to #826.
What does the Census say about the background of Quintero?
Among Census respondents with the surname Quintero, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.7%). 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 Quintero in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (38,276 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Quintero appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (93.4%), White (4.7%), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.7%). 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 Quintero (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 Quintero mean?
A Spanish surname indicating a person who comes from Quintería or is the fifth born child. 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 Quintero (13.71 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 have the last name Quintero?
See how many Americans have the surname Quintero on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.