The Ayala surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 92,463 people carried this name — #333 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 3,190 people counted. That is up 39% from 66,515 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Ayala surname
Borrowed from Spanish Ayala, from Basque Aiara, after a town in Álvara, Basque Country.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Ayala» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 92,961 people named Ayala live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 277 people named Ayala.
132 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 26 départements, most often Bouches-du-Rhône.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
210 people named Ayala live in Switzerland.
They live in 13 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
42 people named Ayala is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Ayala in American newspapers,
1849–1963.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 16,502 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Ayala,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Balthasar de Ayala 1548–1584 · military personnel -
Bernabé de Ayala 1600–1678 · painter -
Juan Ayala 1828–1899 · military personnel -
Eusebio Ayala 1875–1942 · politician -
Elysa Ayala 1878–1956 · writer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 238 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Ayala.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Ayala is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.