Explore the Family Name Ballestero

The meaning of Ballestero

Spanish: occupational name for a maker of crossbows or a soldier armed with a crossbow, from ballestero (see Ballester).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Ballestero in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Ballestero has increased in popularity between the years 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 42,757th most common surname, but by 2010, it had risen to the 37,341st position, marking a significant 12.67% increase. Furthermore, the count of individuals with this surname also saw an upsurge during this period, growing by 25.16% from 477 to 597. As for its proportion per 100k people, there was a minor increase of 11.11%, shifting from 0.18 to 0.2.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#42,757	#37,341	12.67%
Count	477	597	25.16%
Proportion per 100k	0.18	0.2	11.11%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ballestero

Regarding ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census suggests that the Ballestero surname is most commonly associated with the Hispanic ethnic identity. In both 2000 and 2010, over 64% of those with the Ballestero surname identified as Hispanic, with a slight increase of 0.65% observed over the decade. The second most common ethnicity was White, which decreased from 29.56% to 26.63%. Interestingly, there was a notable rise in the Black ethnic group, with an increase of 59.52%. The Asian/Pacific Islander group also emerged in 2010, constituting 2.35% of the Ballesteros, while the American Indian and Alaskan Native representation dropped to zero. There was no change reported for those identifying with two or more races.

	2000	2010	Change
Hispanic	64.57%	64.99%	0.65%
White	29.56%	26.63%	-9.91%
Black	2.1%	3.35%	59.52%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	2.35%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	2.1%	0%	0%