Find out how popular the last name Avilas is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Avilas.

Avilas, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Avilas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Avilas in America

Avilas is the 118185th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Avilas surname appeared 147 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Avilas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Avilas to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Avilas

The surname Avilas originated in Spain during the medieval period. It is derived from the word 'Avila', which refers to the city and province of the same name located in the autonomous region of Castile and León. The name Avila is believed to have its roots in the Latin word 'abula', meaning 'flat land' or 'plain'.

The city of Avila was an important settlement during the time of the Reconquista, the period of Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. It is mentioned in several historical documents and chronicles from the 11th and 12th centuries, such as the Chronica Adefonsi Imperatoris and the Primera Crónica General de España.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Avilas dates back to the 13th century, when a nobleman named Sancho de Avilas was mentioned in a royal charter issued by King Alfonso X of Castile in 1256. The surname was also associated with several prominent families in Avila, including the Avilas de Guzman and the Avilas de Bracamonte.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the surname Avilas. One of the most famous was Juan de Avilas, a 16th-century Spanish Catholic priest and preacher who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. He was born in Almodóvar del Campo, Ciudad Real, in 1499 and died in Montilla, Córdoba, in 1569.

Another prominent figure was Pedro de Avilas, a 16th-century Spanish conquistador and explorer. He participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés and later led expeditions to the Pacific coast of present-day Mexico and Guatemala.

In the 18th century, José de Avilas y Sotomayor was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic) from 1730 to 1734.

In the field of literature, Juan Bautista de Avilas was a 17th-century Spanish playwright and poet who was born in Seville in 1590 and died in Madrid in 1658.

More recently, Emilio Avilas García was a Mexican politician and diplomat who served as the Governor of the state of Guanajuato from 1949 to 1955. He was born in León, Guanajuato, in 1900 and died in Mexico City in 1969.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Avilas

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Avilas.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Avilas was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Avilas has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Avilas was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Avilas, please contact us.

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