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

Iliev, 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 Iliev surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Iliev in America

Iliev is the 43006th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Iliev surname appeared 503 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 Iliev.

We can also compare 2010 data for Iliev 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 Iliev

The surname ILIEV is of Bulgarian origin, arising in the 14th century. It is a patronymic name, derived from the personal name Iliya, the Bulgarian form of the Greek name Elias. The suffix "-ev" or "-iev" indicates "son of" in Slavic naming traditions.

ILIEV likely originated among Bulgarians living in the regions around Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, areas with a strong Greek cultural influence due to their proximity to the Byzantine Empire. The name may have roots in the Thracian and Greek communities that existed in these regions before the Slavic migrations.

Early written records of the ILIEV surname are scarce, but it is believed to have appeared in church registers and census documents from the 15th and 16th centuries. One of the earliest known ILIEV references is found in a 1492 land deed from the town of Veliko Tarnovo, granting property to a certain Ivan Iliev.

In the 17th century, a notable figure bearing the ILIEV surname was Nikola Iliev, a Bulgarian merchant and philanthropist who funded the construction of several churches and schools in the town of Gabrovo. He was born in 1620 and died in 1698.

Another prominent ILIEV was Vasil Iliev, a 19th-century Bulgarian writer and teacher who played a significant role in the Bulgarian National Revival. He was born in 1817 in the town of Kotel and is known for his contributions to the development of modern Bulgarian literature and education.

In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the ILIEV surname was Lyudmil Iliev, a celebrated Bulgarian poet and translator. He was born in 1927 in Sofia and was widely recognized for his innovative poetic style and his translations of works by prominent authors such as Goethe, Heine, and Rilke.

Additionally, the name ILIEV has been associated with several notable athletes, including Georgi Iliev, a Bulgarian wrestler who won a silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and Yordan Iliev, a Bulgarian football player who represented his country in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

While the ILIEV surname is most prevalent in Bulgaria, it has also spread to other Slavic countries and regions with significant Bulgarian diaspora communities, such as North Macedonia, Serbia, and parts of Romania.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Iliev

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

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

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

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