2000
#49,057
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 403
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.15
Very Rare Last name
Ballinas
A place name surname of Spanish origin referring to a location like Balinas.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 802 Americans carry the last name Ballinas. That puts it at #34,822 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.23 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 427,374 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ballinas surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
802
1 in 427,374
Census rank
#34,822
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
699
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 699 bearers of the surname Ballinas in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.23 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 34822nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ballinas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Black (0.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ballinas
The surname Ballinas is of Spanish origin, with roots tracing back to the medieval era in the regions of Galicia and Asturias in northern Spain. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "ballena," meaning "whale," which suggests that the original bearers of this name may have been associated with whaling or maritime activities.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Ballinas surname can be found in the 14th century, in a document from the Kingdom of Castile. This document references a certain Rodrigo Ballinas, who was a maritime merchant engaged in trade between Spain and the Canary Islands.
In the 16th century, during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, several individuals bearing the Ballinas surname were among the early settlers in the New World. One notable figure was Juan Ballinas, who arrived in Mexico in 1521 and became one of the first Spanish residents of the city now known as Veracruz.
The Ballinas surname also has a connection to the Basque Country, where variations such as "Balinas" and "Valinas" were recorded. In the 17th century, a prominent Basque figure named Martín Ballinas served as a magistrate and played a role in the region's governance.
Elsewhere in Europe, the surname Ballinas appeared in isolated instances, such as in the case of Antonio Ballinas, an Italian painter from Milan who lived in the late 16th century and was known for his religious works.
In the 19th century, a notable bearer of the Ballinas surname was José Ballinas, a Spanish military officer who fought in the Carlist Wars, a series of civil conflicts over the succession to the Spanish throne. He was born in 1810 and died in 1884.
Another individual of historical significance was Mariano Ballinas, a Mexican lawyer and politician who served as a senator and governor of the state of Querétaro in the late 19th century. He was born in 1836 and died in 1914.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ballinas
Among Census respondents with the surname Ballinas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Black (0.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Ballinas bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Ballinas surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.6% · 689
- White1.1% · 8
- Black or African American0.3% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ballinas
Ballinas appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#30,303
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 772
+369 bearers (+91.6%)
Per 100,000 0.26
Rank movement Up 18,754 places
2020
#34,822
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 699
-73 bearers (-9.5%)
Per 100,000 0.23
Rank movement Down 4,519 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #49,057 | 403 | 0.15 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #30,303 | 772 | 0.26 | +369 bearers (+91.6%) | Up 18,754 places |
| 2020 | #34,822 | 699 | 0.23 | -73 bearers (-9.5%) | Down 4,519 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Ballinas surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #30,303 | #34,822 | -14.9% |
| Count | 772 | 699 | -9.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.26 | 0.23 | -10.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ballinas bearers went from 772 to 699 (-9.5% change). The surname moved down 4,519 positions in the national ranking, going from #30,303 to #34,822.
FAQ
Ballinas surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ballinas?
Name Census estimates that about 802 living Americans carry the surname Ballinas. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 427,374 residents.
How common is Ballinas?
Ballinas ranks #34,822 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.23 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 699 people with the surname Ballinas. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (802), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.23 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.23 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Ballinas.
Has Ballinas become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ballinas went from 772 recorded bearers to 699. That is a decrease of 73 (-9.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #30,303 to #34,822.
What does the Census say about the background of Ballinas?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ballinas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Black (0.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Ballinas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (689 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ballinas appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (98.6%), White (1.1%), Black (0.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Ballinas (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Ballinas mean?
A place name surname of Spanish origin referring to a location like Balinas. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Ballinas (0.23 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Ballinas?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.