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

Luis, 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 Luis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Luis in America

Luis is the 3827th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Luis surname appeared 9,255 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 Luis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Luis 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 Luis

The surname Luis originated in Spain during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old Spanish name Lois, which in turn comes from the Germanic name Lodowicus, a Latinized form of the Old Frankish name Hlodowig, meaning "famous warrior."

In the 8th century, the name was borne by the Frankish ruler Clovis I, who united the Frankish tribes and founded the Merovingian dynasty. The name Luis appeared in early medieval Spanish records and manuscripts, such as the Becerro Gótico de Cardeña, a 12th-century cartulary from the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname Luis was Gonzalo Luis, a 13th-century nobleman and military leader from the Kingdom of León. Another notable figure was Juan Luis de Segura (c. 1520-1571), a Spanish poet and soldier who fought against the Moriscos in Granada.

The surname Luis has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. These include Luis de Góngora (1561-1627), a renowned Spanish poet of the Baroque period; Luis de León (1527-1591), a Spanish poet, humanist, and mystic of the Spanish Renaissance; and Luis Vives (1492-1540), a Spanish scholar and humanist who was a contemporary of Erasmus.

In the 19th century, Luis de Rivas (1791-1865) was a Spanish dramatist and politician, while Luis Buñuel (1900-1983) was a renowned Spanish filmmaker and a central figure in the Surrealist movement. More recently, Luis Suárez (born 1987) is a Uruguayan professional soccer player who has played for clubs like Liverpool and Barcelona.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Luis

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

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

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

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