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

Issa, 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 Issa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Issa in America

Issa is the 8110th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Issa surname appeared 4,088 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 Issa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Issa 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 Issa

The surname Issa originated in the Middle East, deriving from the Arabic name Isa, which means "Jesus" or "son of Jesus." It is believed to have emerged in the 7th century AD, during the rise of Islam, when Arabic names became more prevalent in the region.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Issa can be found in ancient Arabic manuscripts and historical texts from the 8th and 9th centuries. These documents often referred to individuals with this surname who held positions of religious or political significance in the early Islamic caliphates.

In the 10th century, the name Issa appeared in records of the Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled over parts of North Africa and the Middle East. One notable figure from this time was Abu Bakr Mohammad al-Issa, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in Cairo during the reign of the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985-1021 AD).

As the Arabic influence spread across the Mediterranean region, the name Issa also found its way into parts of Europe. In the 12th century, a Sicilian nobleman named Issa di Palermo was mentioned in chronicles of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, which had strong ties to the Islamic world.

During the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517 AD), the name Issa continued to be prominent. One notable figure was Taqi al-Din al-Issa, a 14th-century Syrian astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the development of astronomical instruments.

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire's expansion into the Middle East and North Africa led to the further spread of the name Issa. A prominent figure from this era was Mustafa al-Issa, a 17th-century Ottoman scholar and diplomat who served as the ambassador to the French court of Louis XIV.

As the centuries passed, the name Issa continued to be prevalent in various parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean region, with many individuals bearing this surname making notable contributions in fields such as literature, religion, politics, and academia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Issa

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

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

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

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