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

Islas, 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 Islas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Islas in America

Islas is the 3853rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Islas surname appeared 9,200 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Islas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Islas 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 Islas

The surname Islas is of Spanish origin and it is derived from the Spanish word "isla" which means "island." The name likely originated in regions of Spain with proximity to islands, such as the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, or coastal areas near the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Islas can be found in the Catalan Grand Chronicle, a 13th-century historical text that mentions a person named Guillem de les Isles. This suggests that the name was already in use by the medieval period in the Iberian Peninsula.

During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, many Spanish explorers and settlers with the surname Islas were involved in the exploration and colonization of the Americas and the Caribbean islands. One notable figure was Juan de Islas, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the early 16th century.

In the late 16th century, a variant spelling of the name, "Yslas," appeared in records from the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines. This may have been influenced by the archipelagic nature of the Philippine islands.

Another prominent individual bearing the surname Islas was Padre Antonio de las Islas, a Spanish missionary and linguist who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was known for his work translating religious texts into indigenous languages in Mexico.

In the 19th century, José María Islas was a Mexican military officer and politician who served as the governor of the state of Jalisco from 1867 to 1871.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Islas in the United States was Juan de Islas, a Spanish settler who arrived in Florida in the late 16th century and was among the founders of the city of St. Augustine.

Throughout history, the surname Islas has been associated with various place names and locations with connections to islands, such as Islas Baleares (Balearic Islands), Islas Canarias (Canary Islands), and Islas Filipinas (Philippine Islands).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Islas

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

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

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

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