Ruis last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Ruis

A surname of Spanish origin referring to small streams or brooks.

Ruis, 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 Ruis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ruis in America

Ruis is the 17080th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ruis surname appeared 1,662 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 Ruis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ruis 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 17080 17040 0.23%
Count 1,662 1,537 7.81%
Proportion per 100k 0.56 0.57 -1.77%

The history of the last name Ruis

The surname RUIS has its origins in Spain, and can be traced back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Spanish word "río," which means river, and was likely used to denote someone who lived near a river or stream.

In the early 13th century, the name appears in the Cartulario de Oña, a collection of medieval charters and documents from the Monastery of Oña in the northern Spanish province of Burgos. One entry from 1214 mentions a man named "Rodrigo Ruiz," suggesting that the surname was already in use at that time.

As the name spread throughout Spain, variations in spelling emerged, including Ruys, Ruiz, and Ruíz. These different spellings were often used interchangeably, as spellings were not standardized until much later.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname RUIS was Juan Ruiz, a notable Spanish poet and author of the 14th century. He is best known for his work "Libro de Buen Amor," considered a masterpiece of medieval Spanish literature. Juan Ruiz was born around 1283 in Alcalá de Henares, near Madrid, and is believed to have died sometime after 1350.

Another notable figure was Hernán Ruiz de Alarcón, a renowned Spanish architect and sculptor from the 16th century. He was responsible for designing and constructing several important buildings in Seville, including the Ayuntamiento (City Hall) and the Hospital de las Cinco Llagas. Hernán Ruiz de Alarcón was born in 1492 and died in 1557.

In the 17th century, the surname RUIS appears in connection with the Spanish colonization of the Americas. One example is Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, a Spanish soldier and explorer who was involved in the conquest of Chile in the late 1500s and early 1600s.

During the 18th century, the name RUIS was associated with several prominent Spanish military figures, including José Ruiz de Apodaca, a naval officer and viceroy of New Spain (present-day Mexico) from 1816 to 1821. He was born in 1754 in Cádiz, Spain, and died in 1835.

Another individual of note was Mariano Ruiz Funes, a Spanish lawyer, politician, and writer from the 19th century. He served as Minister of Justice in the government of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta and was a prominent figure in the Spanish Liberal Party. Mariano Ruiz Funes was born in 1833 in Murcia, Spain, and died in 1899.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ruis

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

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 Ruis was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 39.41% 655
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.78% 13
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.90% 15
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.02% 17
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.60% 10
Hispanic Origin 57.28% 952

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 Ruis has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 39.41% 42.23% -6.91%
Black 0.78% 0.91% -15.38%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.90% 0.72% 22.22%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 1.02% 1.11% -8.45%
Two or More Races 0.60% 1.11% -59.65%
Hispanic 57.28% 53.94% 6.01%

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Ruis last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/ruis-surname-popularity/.

"Ruis last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/ruis-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Ruis last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/ruis-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.