How common is the surname Rivera?

391,114 people in the United States had the surname Rivera in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 789 Americans. It ranked 46th of 162,253 surnames.

The surnameRivera

A Spanish surname, the 46th most common in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex R160

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rivera is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

Spanish origin

From Spanish Rivera.

One of 992 Spanish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 391,114 people named Rivera in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 789 Americans. That is up 31% since 2000, when the Census counted 299,463.

#46

rank among US surnames

391,114

people in 2010

133

per 100,000 Americans

+30.6%

change since 2000 (was #59)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#37	Torres	437,813	705
#38	Nguyen	437,645	705
#39	Hill	434,827	710
#40	Flores	433,969	711
#41	Green	430,182	718
#42	Adams	427,865	722
#43	Nelson	424,958	727

Who is named Rivera

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

91% of people named Rivera identified as Hispanic or Latino (any race), 5.4% as white (not Hispanic) and 2.0% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

Hispanic or Latino (any race) 91%
White (not Hispanic) 5.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.0%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.9%
Two or more races 0.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among Hispanic and Latino Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rivera

Rivera has the Soundex code R160, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R160.

Other Spanish surnames

All 992 Spanish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Rivera come from?: From Spanish Rivera.
How common is the surname Rivera?: 391,114 people in the United States had the surname Rivera in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 789 Americans. It ranked 46th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rivera?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Rivera identified as Hispanic or Latino (any race), and 5.4% as white (not Hispanic).