2000
#5,316
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,033
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.24
Rare Last name
Islas
A Spanish toponymic surname indicating the family's origins from an island or islands.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,960 Americans carry the last name Islas. That puts it at #3,959 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.91 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 34,413 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Islas 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
10.0K
1 in 34,413
Census rank
#3,959
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,686 bearers of the surname Islas in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.91 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3959th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Islas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 95.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Islas
Among Census respondents with the surname Islas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 95.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Islas 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 Islas surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.1% · 8,258
- White3.8% · 331
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 24
- Two or more races0.3% · 22
- Black or African American0.2% · 19
Timeline
Historical Census data for Islas
Islas 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
#3,853
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,200
+3,167 bearers (+52.5%)
Per 100,000 3.12
Rank movement Up 1,463 places
2020
#3,959
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,686
-514 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 2.91
Rank movement Down 106 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,316 | 6,033 | 2.24 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,853 | 9,200 | 3.12 | +3,167 bearers (+52.5%) | Up 1,463 places |
| 2020 | #3,959 | 8,686 | 2.91 | -514 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 106 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 Islas 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 | #3,853 | #3,959 | -2.8% |
| Count | 9,200 | 8,686 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 3.12 | 2.91 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Islas bearers went from 9,200 to 8,686 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 106 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,853 to #3,959.
FAQ
Islas surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Islas?
Name Census estimates that about 9,960 living Americans carry the surname Islas. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 34,413 residents.
How common is Islas?
Islas ranks #3,959 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.91 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 8,686 people with the surname Islas. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,960), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.91 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.91 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Islas.
Has Islas become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Islas went from 9,200 recorded bearers to 8,686. That is a decrease of 514 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,853 to #3,959.
What does the Census say about the background of Islas?
Among Census respondents with the surname Islas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 95.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Islas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.1% (8,258 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Islas appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (95.1%), White (3.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Islas (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 Islas mean?
A Spanish toponymic surname indicating the family's origins from an island or islands. 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 Islas (2.91 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 Islas?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.