Explore the Family Name Dorado

The meaning of Dorado

Spanish: from dorado ‘golden’ (from Late Latin deaurare ‘to gild’, from aurum ‘gold’), probably applied as a nickname to someone with golden hair. Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Juan, Jose, Manuel, Miguel, Ricardo, Agustin, Gustavo, Jesus, Jose Luis, Luis, Rafael, Raul.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Dorado has seen a rise in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Dorado was ranked as the 7452nd most common surname, but moved up to the 6367th spot by 2010 – that's an impressive jump of nearly 15%. Similarly, the number of individuals bearing the surname increased from 4117 to 5345 during the same period, marking a growth rate of almost 30%. The proportion per 100,000 people also expanded, moving from 1.53 to 1.81 – a growth of approximately 18%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#7,452	#6,367	14.56%
Count	4,117	5,345	29.83%
Proportion per 100k	1.53	1.81	18.3%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Dorado

Ethnicity data based on the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of individuals with the Dorado surname identify as Hispanic, with about 90% in both 2000 and 2010. There was a slight increase of 0.16% in this group over the decade. The second-largest ethnic identity group for this surname is White, though it saw a slight decrease of about 4% over the ten-year span. Interestingly, the Asian/Pacific Islander group experienced a growth of 13%, increasing from 3.38% to 3.82%. Those reporting two or more races fell by approximately 19%, while Black, American Indian and Alaskan Native categories remained unchanged at 0%.

	2000	2010	Change
Hispanic	90.24%	90.38%	0.16%
White	5.42%	5.18%	-4.43%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.38%	3.82%	13.02%
Two or More Races	0.53%	0.43%	-18.87%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%