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

Salinas, 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 Salinas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Salinas in America

Salinas is the 393rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Salinas surname appeared 81,156 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 28 people would have the surname Salinas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Salinas 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 Salinas

The surname Salinas originated in Spain during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Spanish word 'salina', meaning a salt mine or salt marsh. This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name were likely salt workers or resided near salt marshes or salt mines.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Salinas name can be found in the Mozarabic Chronicles, a collection of historical texts written in the 12th century. These chronicles document the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors by Christian forces.

In the 13th century, the name Salinas appeared in records from the Kingdom of Castile, particularly in the region of La Mancha. It is believed that some of the earliest Salinas families were landowners or worked in the salt mining industry in this area.

A notable early bearer of the name was Pedro Salinas, a Spanish poet and scholar who lived from 1891 to 1951. He was a prominent figure in the Generation of '27, a group of influential Spanish poets and writers.

Another historical figure with the Salinas surname was Juan de Salinas, a 16th-century Spanish explorer and navigator. He accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico and played a role in the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

In the 17th century, the Salinas name appeared in records from the Spanish colonies in the Americas. One such example is Diego de Salinas, a Spanish soldier and administrator who served as the Governor of New Mexico from 1668 to 1675.

The name Salinas is also associated with several place names in Spain, such as Salinas de Añana, a historic salt mining town in the Basque Country, and Salinas de Guaranda, a municipality in the province of Badajoz.

Throughout history, other notable individuals with the Salinas surname include Luis de Salinas, a 16th-century Spanish translator and humanist; Francisco de Salinas, a 16th-century Spanish music theorist and composer; and Miguel Salinas, a 20th-century Mexican politician and diplomat.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Salinas

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

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

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

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