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

Vas, 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 Vas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vas in America

Vas is the 47614th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vas surname appeared 445 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 Vas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vas 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 Vas

The surname VAS traces its origins to India, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "vas," which means "to dwell" or "to reside." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to individuals who lived in a particular place or region.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name VAS can be found in the Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century administrative document commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar. This text mentions a certain "Rai Vas" who held a high-ranking position in the imperial court.

The name VAS also appears in several ancient Hindu texts and manuscripts, further solidifying its Indian roots. For instance, the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics, includes a character named Vasudeva, which incorporates the root "vas."

During the medieval period, the name VAS was particularly prevalent in the regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Notable individuals bearing this surname include Rai Vas Bahadur (1567-1623), a wealthy merchant and landowner from the city of Jaipur, and Maharaja Vas Singh (1720-1789), a ruler of the princely state of Marwar.

As the centuries progressed, the name VAS spread across the Indian subcontinent and beyond. In the 19th century, Pandit Vas Dev Shastri (1819-1892), a renowned Sanskrit scholar and author, made significant contributions to the study of ancient Indian texts.

More recently, Vasanthi Vas (1928-2013), an accomplished Indian classical dancer and choreographer, gained international recognition for her work in preserving and promoting traditional Indian dance forms.

It is worth noting that the name VAS has also been recorded with various spellings, such as Vass, Vaze, and Vazé, reflecting regional linguistic variations and the adaptation of the name to different languages and cultures.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vas

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

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

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

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