The Zarate surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 20,992 people carried this name — #1,713 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 14,000 people counted. That is up 50% from 14,000 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Zarate surname
Borrowed from Spanish Zárate, itself from a Basque toponym.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Zarate» (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 57,359 people named Zarate 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 52 people named Zarate.
13 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 9 départements, most often Aveyron.
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
45 people named Zarate live in Switzerland.
They live in 9 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where 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
23 people named Zarate 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
Zarate in American newspapers,
1877–1955.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 4,922 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Zarate,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Mikel Zarate 1933–1979 · writer -
Robert Zarate 1987– · baseball player -
Oscar Zarate 1942– · illustrator
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Susana Zarate 1948– · badminton player
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Abel Zarate 1952– · songwriter
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Geneviève Zarate 1953– · research fellow
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 19 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Zarate.
- Zapata 32,274 · U.S. census
- Zapp 872 · U.S. census
- Zappa 1,100 · U.S. census
- Zappia 1,110 · U.S. census
- Zara 725 · U.S. census
- Zaragoza 18,908 · U.S. census
- Zarb 199 · U.S. census
- Zaremba 2,372 · U.S. census
- Zarka 192 · U.S. census
- Zaug 155 · U.S. census
- Zaugg 1,039 · U.S. census
- Zawada 774 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Zarate 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.