These are the more common Mexican last names beginning with A, ranked by how often they’re used in Mexico today.
Aguilar heads the list. It’s the 21st most common surname in the entire country, ahead of Álvarez in 30th place and Ávila in 52nd.
Further down you’ll meet names that rarely appear on American lists at all. Albores, Azuara, Alavez and Anzures are all common enough in Mexico to make the national top thousand, yet each one is genuinely rare in the United States.
There are 100 names below. Each shows its rank in Mexico beside its rank in the 2010 U.S. census, and we give the origins and meanings of the most common ones.
The rankings come from a database of over 1.25 million workers published by Mexico’s Ministry of Public Education.
List Of Mexican Last Names Starting With A
Let’s start with the list of names from Abad to Adame.
Acosta is the most common Mexican name in this section. The Spanish origins are topographic i.e. the meaning comes from a place. In this case, Acosta means a coastal area.
| Last Name | Mexico Rank | U.S. Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Abad | 989 | 5,401 |
| Abarca | 358 | 3,780 |
| Abrego | 989 | 4,606 |
| Aburto | 793 | 11,764 |
| Acevedo | 197 | 665 |
| Aceves | 500 | 3,603 |
| Acosta | 74 | 302 |
| Acuña | 686 | 2,179 |
| Adame | 334 | 2,250 |
Mexican names from Aguayo to Ahumada
Aguilar is the most common name in this section, ranked 21st in Mexico. Historically, the meaning is “the place of eagles”.
| Last Name | Mexico Rank | U.S. Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Aguayo | 497 | 2,799 |
| Aguero | 989 | 5,437 |
| Aguila | 672 | 5,683 |
| Aguilar | 21 | 134 |
| Aguilera | 262 | 1,109 |
| Aguirre | 90 | 401 |
| Ahumada | 603 | 6,829 |
Mexican names from Alamilla to Alvarez
Alvarez and Alvarado are the top names in this section. However, if we counted Alonso and Alonzo together, the one name with two variant spellings would also be very high.
Interestingly, although it arrived from Spanish origins, the ultimate origin can be German. Alphonse is also a variation. The German meaning refers to a nobleman ready for battle, a warrior.
| Last Name | Mexico Rank | U.S. Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Alamilla | 669 | 19,306 |
| Alanis | 411 | 3,274 |
| Alarcon | 195 | 1,917 |
| Alatorre | 935 | 7,031 |
| Alavez | 730 | 23,750 |
| Alba | 556 | 2,699 |
| Albarran | 495 | 5,464 |
| Albores | 904 | 72,568 |
| Alcala | 395 | 2,029 |
| Alcantar | 521 | 2,794 |
| Alcantara | 276 | 2,853 |
| Alcaraz | 355 | 3,098 |
| Alcazar | 837 | 7,847 |
| Alcocer | 346 | 8,867 |
| Aldama | 971 | 15,788 |
| Aldana | 519 | 3,448 |
| Alegria | 660 | 5,609 |
| Alejandro | 474 | 4,563 |
| Alejo | 657 | 5,486 |
| Aleman | 307 | 1,571 |
| Alfaro | 227 | 975 |
| Almanza | 406 | 2,454 |
| Almaraz | 502 | 4,215 |
| Almazan | 477 | 5,549 |
| Alonso | 132 | 1,155 |
| Alonzo | 789 | 1,758 |
| Altamirano | 220 | 2,915 |
| Alva | 867 | 5,750 |
| Alvarado | 53 | 219 |
| Alvarez | 30 | 92 |
Mexican names from Amador to Aquino
Andrade and Antonio are the top names in this section. Antonio is an ancient name deriving from the Roman family name Antonius. Because its so old, different sources give different meanings. “To be much praised”, or “priceless” are often given.
| Last Name | Mexico Rank | U.S. Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Amador | 213 | 1,603 |
| Amaro | 435 | 3,042 |
| Amaya | 450 | 1,057 |
| Ambriz | 911 | 3,416 |
| Amezcua | 997 | 4,889 |
| Anaya | 283 | 1,488 |
| Andrade | 146 | 516 |
| Angel | 418 | 1,428 |
| Angeles | 172 | 2,559 |
| Anguiano | 431 | 2,208 |
| Angulo | 379 | 2,836 |
| Antonio | 155 | 2,358 |
| Antunez | 616 | 5,931 |
| Anzures | 914 | 19,229 |
| Aparicio | 294 | 2,680 |
| Aquino | 241 | 1,368 |
Mexican names from Aragon to Arzate
Arellano is just outside the top one hundred, being ranked #104 in Mexico. It’s considered a habitational name, in that the early origins are associated with a specific place. Arellano is a village in the Navarre region in Spain.
| Last Name | Mexico Rank | U.S. Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Aragon | 301 | 1,367 |
| Araiza | 719 | 4,956 |
| Arana | 732 | 3,347 |
| Aranda | 293 | 1,861 |
| Araujo | 418 | 1,908 |
| Arce | 268 | 1,844 |
| Arceo | 961 | 7,782 |
| Arciniega | 633 | 9,352 |
| Arcos | 320 | 8,005 |
| Arellano | 104 | 687 |
| Arenas | 244 | 3,035 |
| Arevalo | 470 | 1,499 |
| Arguelles | 407 | 6,932 |
| Arguello | 608 | 4,160 |
| Arias | 150 | 581 |
| Ariza | 889 | 9,770 |
| Arizmendi | 623 | 9,479 |
| Arjona | 945 | 19,469 |
| Armendariz | 539 | 2,892 |
| Armenta | 250 | 2,406 |
| Arredondo | 260 | 1,212 |
| Arreguin | 983 | 5,356 |
| Arreola | 284 | 1,673 |
| Arriaga | 243 | 1,865 |
| Arrieta | 741 | 6,684 |
| Arroyo | 165 | 678 |
| Arteaga | 235 | 1,848 |
| Arvizu | 647 | 5,664 |
| Arzate | 645 | 6,858 |
Mexican names from Ascencio to Azuara
This is the final section and Avila is the most common name here at #52. It is strongly linked to a city of the same name in central Spain.
Ascencio is far less common in Mexico but is interesting in that it isn’t tied to a place. The meaning is linked with “Ascension” as a religious term. Early families likely took it to reflect a devotional tradition.
| Last Name | Mexico Rank | U.S. Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Ascencio | 765 | 4,526 |
| Astudillo | 559 | 11,127 |
| Avalos | 203 | 940 |
| Avendaño | 404 | 5,695 |
| Avila | 52 | 318 |
| Aviles | 230 | 1,375 |
| Avilez | 922 | 8,705 |
| Ayala | 107 | 333 |
| Azuara | 616 | 41,799 |
Notes About Our List
Our source
The data comes from an open database of 1,256,438 federal education workers published by Mexico’s Secretaría de Educación Pública.
This is a large sample of Mexican adults rather than a count of the whole country. It ranks the common surnames reliably, but it won’t include every rare name.
The processed data is published on GitHub as mexican-names.
The two columns
The Mexico Rank column shows how common the surname is in Mexico. The lower the number, the more common the name.
The U.S. Rank column is the name’s position in the 2010 United States census, which ranked around 162,000 surnames.
Accents
Many of these names carry an accent when written properly, such as Ávila, Álvarez and Aragón. Official Mexican records store names without accents, so our tables show the plain spelling. The letter ñ does survive, which is why you’ll see Acuña and Avendaño.
Two surnames
People in Mexico carry two surnames, the father’s followed by the mother’s. Our ranking uses the father’s surname, which is the one a person is normally known by.
Related lists
For surnames common among Hispanic Americans, see our list of Hispanic last names starting with A.
You can also use our surname ranking tool to check how a name ranked in the 2000 and 2010 U.S. censuses.
