Garcia, Rodriguez and other Hispanic surnames now among the most popular in the U.S.

The Garcias are keeping up with the Joneses.

U.S. Census data released earlier this month shows that Garcia has gone from the 18th most common name in the country in 1990 to the sixth most popular in 2010, falling right behind Jones and ahead of Miller and Davis on the list of the nation’s 10 most common surnames. Rodriguez and Martinez also climbed into the top 10, with the 20 most popular surnames in the U.S. now including six names of Hispanic origin, compared to just two in 1990 and four in 2000.

The steady rise in Hispanic surnames over the past 20 years largely reflects the recent growth in the country’s Hispanic population. A 2011 report on the Hispanic population from the U.S. Census Bureau noted that the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” are used to describe any person of “Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.”

According to U.S. Census data, the Hispanic population in the United States expanded by 43 percent between 2000 and 2010, with residents of Hispanic or Latino origin making up more than half the country’s total population growth over that 10-year period. As of 2010, 50.5 million Hispanic or Latino people resided in the U.S., about 16 percent of the total population.

Along with overall population growth, the rising popularity of surnames like Garcia and Rodriguez is also related to the number of surnames in various demographic groups.

The Census report on changing surnames found that 26 of the most popular were used by 25 percent of Hispanic-Americans, while less than 1 percent of the white population identified by one of the top 26 surnames.

Despite the shifts, there was little change among the top five surnames between 2000 and 2010. Smith remained the most popular, followed by Johnson, Williams, Brown and Jones. But as names like Garcia continue to rise along with the country’s rapidly changing demographics, it’s unclear how much longer the Smiths and Johnsons will stay at the top.

Though three of the top 15 fastest-growing surnames — Vazquez, Bautista and Velazquez — were also Hispanic, the majority of surnames seen rapidly climbing the ranks in 2000 as well as 2010 were of Asian origin. The popularity of the name Zhang has increased by 111 percent since 2000, Li by 93 percent, and Ali by 93 percent. Liu and Khan also topped the list, having grown by 64 and 63 percent, respectively, over the past decade.