2000
#50
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 325,169
First available Census row
Per 100,000 120.54
Common Last name
Torres
A surname of Spanish origin referring to someone who lived near a tower or worked as a watchman.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 499,970 Americans carry the last name Torres. That puts it at #38 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 145.87 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 686 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Torres 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 Torres with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
500K
1 in 686
Census rank
#38
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
145.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
436K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 435,998 bearers of the surname Torres in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 145.87 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 38th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Torres, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.4%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Torres
The surname Torres is of Spanish origin and has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in the regions of Castile and León. It is derived from the Spanish word "torre," meaning "tower" or "fortified structure." This suggests that the name's bearers may have been associated with living near or guarding a tower or similar fortification in medieval times.
The earliest recorded instances of the Torres surname can be traced back to the 11th and 12th centuries in various historical documents and records from the Kingdom of Castile and León. One notable example is the appearance of the name in the Becerro de las Behetrías, a medieval census and land registry compiled in the late 14th century during the reign of King Pedro I of Castile.
During the Reconquista, the period when Christian kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula fought to reclaim territories from Moorish rule, individuals with the Torres surname played a role in the military campaigns and the subsequent repopulation of conquered areas. This may have contributed to the widespread dissemination of the name across Spain.
Historically, the Torres surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One such figure was Pedro Ruiz de Torres Cabrera (1499-1571), a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru alongside Francisco Pizarro. He was granted encomiendas (a system of labor and tributes) in recognition of his service.
Another prominent bearer of the Torres name was Juan Rodríguez de Torres (c. 1580-1638), a Spanish admiral and explorer who commanded several expeditions to the Pacific Ocean and the coasts of California and the Pacific Northwest in the early 17th century.
In the realm of literature, the Torres surname is associated with the Spanish poet and playwright Jerónimo de Torres y Aguilera (c. 1545-1619), known for his works such as "La Austríada" and "La Penitencia de Amor."
In the field of art, the Spanish painter and engraver Juan de Torres Martínez (c. 1625-1679) made significant contributions to the Baroque style of painting in Spain during the 17th century.
It is also worth mentioning that the Torres surname has been widely adopted and disseminated across Latin America, particularly in regions like Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela, due to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Torres
Among Census respondents with the surname Torres, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.4%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Torres 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 Torres surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.4% · 398,648
- White5.6% · 24,497
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 7,102
- Black or African American0.7% · 2,948
- Two or more races0.4% · 1,763
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1,040
Timeline
Historical Census data for Torres
Torres 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
#37
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 437,813
+112,644 bearers (+34.6%)
Per 100,000 148.42
Rank movement Up 13 places
2020
#38
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 435,998
-1,815 bearers (-0.4%)
Per 100,000 145.87
Rank movement Down 1 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #50 | 325,169 | 120.54 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #37 | 437,813 | 148.42 | +112,644 bearers (+34.6%) | Up 13 places |
| 2020 | #38 | 435,998 | 145.87 | -1,815 bearers (-0.4%) | Down 1 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 Torres 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 | #37 | #38 | -2.7% |
| Count | 437,813 | 435,998 | -0.4% |
| Per 100K | 148.42 | 145.87 | -1.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Torres bearers went from 437,813 to 435,998 (-0.4% change). The surname moved down 1 positions in the national ranking, going from #37 to #38.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Torres
FAQ
Torres surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Torres?
Name Census estimates that about 499,970 living Americans carry the surname Torres. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 686 residents.
How common is Torres?
Torres ranks #38 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 145.87 per 100,000 residents, which is about 146 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 435,998 people with the surname Torres. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (499,970), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 145.87 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 145.87 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 146 of them to have the surname Torres.
Has Torres become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Torres went from 437,813 recorded bearers to 435,998. That is a decrease of 1,815 (-0.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #37 to #38.
What does the Census say about the background of Torres?
Among Census respondents with the surname Torres, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 91.4%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). 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 Torres in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (398,648 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Torres appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (91.4%), White (5.6%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). 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 Torres (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 Torres mean?
A surname of Spanish origin referring to someone who lived near a tower or worked as a watchman. 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 Torres (145.87 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 Torres?
See how many people are called Torres on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.