2000
#11,807
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,430
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.90
Rare Last name
Quiros
Derived from a Galician place name meaning "twisted" or "turned," likely referring to a winding road or river.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,359 Americans carry the last name Quiros. That puts it at #10,461 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.98 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 102,041 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Quiros 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
3.4K
1 in 102,041
Census rank
#10,461
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,929 bearers of the surname Quiros in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.98 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10461st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Quiros, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 86.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Quiros
The surname Quiros is of Spanish origin, deriving from the medieval Spanish personal name Quirico. This name can be traced back to the Greek name Quirikos, meaning "of or belonging to the Lord." The surname Quiros likely emerged in the 12th or 13th century as hereditary surnames began to be adopted across the Iberian Peninsula.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Quiros can be found in historical documents from the regions of Castile and León in northern Spain. It is believed that the name may have originated in either of these two adjacent kingdoms during the Reconquista period when Christian forces were gradually reclaiming territory from Moorish rule.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Quiros surname was Pedro Fernández de Quiros, a Portuguese navigator and explorer who lived from 1565 to 1614. He is renowned for his explorations of the Pacific Ocean and his attempts to discover a great southern continent, which he named "Tierra Austral del Espíritu Santo" (The Southern Land of the Holy Spirit).
Another notable individual with the Quiros surname was Pedro de Quiros, a Spanish military commander who served in the conquest of Peru in the 16th century. He played a significant role in the Spanish colonization of the Andes region and was granted land and settlements by the Spanish Crown.
In the 17th century, Juan de Quiros y Herrera was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1659 to 1662. He was known for his efforts to strengthen the region's defenses against pirate attacks and his advocacy for the rights of indigenous people.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Agustín de Quiros was a Venezuelan military officer and politician who played a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence from Spanish rule. He fought alongside Simón Bolívar and later served as the governor of the province of Caracas.
In the field of literature, Enrique Quiros Campos (1899-1978) was a prominent Nicaraguan poet, essayist, and diplomat. He was widely acclaimed for his poetic works, which celebrated the natural beauty of his homeland and explored themes of national identity and cultural heritage.
While the Quiros surname is of Spanish origin, it has since been embraced by various cultures and communities around the world, particularly in Latin American countries with significant Spanish influence. However, the historical roots and earliest recorded instances of this surname can be traced back to the medieval period in the Iberian Peninsula.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quiros
Among Census respondents with the surname Quiros, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 86.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Quiros 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 Quiros surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino86.0% · 2,519
- White8.0% · 234
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 132
- Black or African American0.8% · 23
- Two or more races0.6% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Quiros
Quiros 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
#10,491
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,059
+629 bearers (+25.9%)
Per 100,000 1.04
Rank movement Up 1,316 places
2020
#10,461
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,929
-130 bearers (-4.2%)
Per 100,000 0.98
Rank movement Up 30 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,807 | 2,430 | 0.90 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,491 | 3,059 | 1.04 | +629 bearers (+25.9%) | Up 1,316 places |
| 2020 | #10,461 | 2,929 | 0.98 | -130 bearers (-4.2%) | Up 30 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 Quiros 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 | #10,491 | #10,461 | 0.3% |
| Count | 3,059 | 2,929 | -4.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.04 | 0.98 | -5.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Quiros bearers went from 3,059 to 2,929 (-4.2% change). The surname moved up 30 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,491 to #10,461.
FAQ
Quiros surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Quiros?
Name Census estimates that about 3,359 living Americans carry the surname Quiros. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 102,041 residents.
How common is Quiros?
Quiros ranks #10,461 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.98 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 2,929 people with the surname Quiros. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,359), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.98 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.98 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 Quiros.
Has Quiros become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Quiros went from 3,059 recorded bearers to 2,929. That is a decrease of 130 (-4.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,491 to #10,461.
What does the Census say about the background of Quiros?
Among Census respondents with the surname Quiros, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 86.0%. The next largest groups are White (8.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%). 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 Quiros in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.0% (2,519 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Quiros appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (86.0%), White (8.0%), Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%). 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 Quiros (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 Quiros mean?
Derived from a Galician place name meaning "twisted" or "turned," likely referring to a winding road or river. 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 Quiros (0.98 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 common is the surname Quiros?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Quiros at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.