Explore the Family Name Moraga

The meaning of Moraga

Spanish: from moraga ‘barbecue’, from Arabic. Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Blanca, Francisco, Guillermo, Jose, Juan Francisco, Luis, Alvaro, Andres, Angel, Elfego.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Moraga has increased over the years. In 2000, the surname was ranked 14,457 in popularity and jumped to a rank of 13,186 by 2010 — an increase of 8.79%. The number of individuals with this surname also rose during this period, from 1,893 in 2000 to 2,318 in 2010, marking a significant growth of 22.45%. The surname's proportion per 100,000 people likewise saw an uptick, growing from 0.7 in 2000 to 0.79 in 2010, a change of 12.86%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,457	#13,186	8.79%
Count	1,893	2,318	22.45%
Proportion per 100k	0.7	0.79	12.86%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Moraga

Regarding the ethnic identity associated with the Moraga surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some interesting changes between 2000 and 2010. The largest ethnicity identified as Hispanic, though it decreased slightly from 77.50% in 2000 to 75.41% in 2010. The proportion of individuals identifying as White also declined by 12.10%, from 15.95% to 14.02%. Meanwhile, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander nearly doubled, surging from 4.44% to 7.94%. There were slight increases among those identifying as Black (from 0.58% to 0.69%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (from 0.79% to 0.86%), and those reporting two or more races (from 0.74% to 1.08%).

	2000	2010	Change
Hispanic	77.5%	75.41%	-2.7%
White	15.95%	14.02%	-12.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	4.44%	7.94%	78.83%
Two or More Races	0.74%	1.08%	45.95%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.79%	0.86%	8.86%
Black	0.58%	0.69%	18.97%