Find out how popular the last name Salvail is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Salvail.
A French surname derived from the Old French word "salvail", meaning "willow tree".
Salvail, 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 Salvail surname is from the 2010 census data.
Salvail is the 114424th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Salvail surname appeared 153 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Salvail.
We can also compare 2010 data for Salvail 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 | 114424 | 104257 | 9.30% |
Count | 153 | 159 | -3.85% |
Proportion per 100k | 0.05 | 0.06 | -18.18% |
The surname SALVAIL has its origins in the French language and dates back to medieval times. It is believed to have originated from the region of Normandy in northern France, where it was first recorded in the 11th century.
The name SALVAIL is thought to be derived from the Old French words "sauve" and "val," which together mean "safe valley" or "protected valley." This suggests that the name may have originated from a geographic location, possibly a valley or settlement that was considered safe or well-protected.
In the 12th century, the name appeared in several historical records and documents, including the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Père de Chartres, which mentioned a person named Guibertus Salvail in 1174. Another early reference to the name can be found in the Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Vauluisant, which recorded a certain Robertus Salvail in 1219.
Over the centuries, the name has been subject to various spellings and variations, such as Sauvail, Sauvalle, and Sauvale, reflecting regional dialects and linguistic changes. Some of the earliest recorded instances of these variations include Guillelmus de Sauvalle in 1198 and Johannes de Sauvale in 1236.
Notable individuals with the surname SALVAIL throughout history include:
Pierre Salvail (1512-1583), a French merchant and explorer who accompanied Jacques Cartier on his third voyage to Canada in 1541.
Jean-Baptiste Salvail (1685-1758), a French-Canadian farmer and landowner in the seigneurie of Champlain, Quebec.
Louis Salvail (1740-1811), a French-Canadian militia officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Marie-Thérèse Salvail (1810-1891), a Quebec-born educator and founder of the Congrégation des Sœurs de Notre-Dame du Saint-Rosaire.
Henri Salvail (1872-1945), a French-Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for the district of Yamaska from 1916 to 1923.
While the surname SALVAIL is not as common today as some other French surnames, it remains a part of the linguistic and cultural heritage of France and its former colonies, particularly in Canada, where many descendants of early French settlers continue to bear this name.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Salvail.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Salvail was:
Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
---|---|---|
Non-Hispanic White Only | 94.77% | 145 |
Non-Hispanic Black Only | 0.00% | 0 |
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 0.00% | 0 |
Hispanic Origin | (S)% | (S) |
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 Salvail has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 94.77% | 99.37% | -4.74% |
Black | 0.00% | (S)% | (S)% |
Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | 0.00% | (S)% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | 0.00% | (S)% |
Two or More Races | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Hispanic | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
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 Salvail was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Salvail, please contact us.
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<a href="http://namecensus.com/last-names/salvail-surname-popularity/">Salvail last name popularity, history, and meaning</a>
"Salvail last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on May 31, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/salvail-surname-popularity/.
"Salvail last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/salvail-surname-popularity/. Accessed 31 May, 2025
Salvail last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/salvail-surname-popularity/.
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