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

Blas, 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 Blas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Blas in America

Blas is the 9045th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Blas surname appeared 3,612 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Blas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Blas 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 Blas

The surname BLAS has its origins in Spain, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the ancient Spanish word "blas," which meant "blasphemer" or "one who blasphemes." This name was likely given as a nickname to someone who had a penchant for using profane or blasphemous language.

In the 13th century, the BLAS surname appeared in various medieval records and documents from the regions of Aragon and Catalonia in northeastern Spain. One of the earliest recorded instances was in the 1286 census rolls of the city of Barcelona, where a certain Pedro BLAS was listed as a resident.

The name BLAS can also be traced back to the Catalan variant "Blas," which was a common spelling in the 15th and 16th centuries. This version is thought to have originated from the Latin name "Blasius," which was derived from the Greek word "blastos," meaning "sprout" or "offspring."

One of the most notable historical figures with the BLAS surname was Juan BLAS, a Spanish explorer and navigator who lived from 1520 to 1590. He accompanied several expeditions to the Americas and is credited with being one of the first Europeans to explore the Pacific Northwest region of present-day Canada and the United States.

Another notable BLAS was Pedro BLAS de Quesada, a Spanish conquistador born in 1505, who played a significant role in the conquest of present-day Colombia and the establishment of the city of Bogotá in the 1530s.

In the realm of literature, the Spanish novelist and playwright Ramón del Valle-Inclán (1866-1936) included a character named Blas Sangredo in his renowned work "Luces de Bohemia" (Bohemian Lights), published in 1920.

The surname BLAS has also been associated with various place names in Spain, such as the town of Blas in the province of Teruel, and the municipality of Blasconuño de Matacabras in the province of Ávila.

Throughout history, several other notable individuals have borne the BLAS surname, including the Mexican painter and muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), whose full name was José David Alfaro BLAS, and the Spanish painter José BLAS Molina (1810-1891).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Blas

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

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 Blas 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 Blas 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 Blas was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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