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

Vasilyev, 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 Vasilyev surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vasilyev in America

Vasilyev is the 58604th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vasilyev surname appeared 346 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 Vasilyev.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vasilyev 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 Vasilyev

The surname VASILYEV is of Russian origin, deriving from the widespread Slavic male given name Vasily, which is derived from the Greek name Basileios, meaning "kingly" or "royal". The name Vasily has been popular among Russians for centuries, and the patronymic surname VASILYEV indicates descent from an ancestor named Vasily.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname VASILYEV can be found in various Russian historical records, such as tax registers and census documents, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. During this period, the use of hereditary surnames became more widespread among the Russian nobility and gentry.

One notable historical figure bearing the surname VASILYEV was Feodor Vasilyevich Vasilyev (1707-1782), a Russian statesman and diplomat who served as the governor of several provinces during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Andrey Vasilyev (1776-1828), a Russian general who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the Order of St. George for his bravery and leadership.

In the realm of literature, the name VASILYEV is associated with the Russian writer and playwright Sergey Vasilyev (1854-1916), known for his satirical works that critiqued the social and political conditions of his time.

The VASILYEV surname has also been carried by several notable artists and musicians, including the Russian painter Viktor Vasilyev (1925-2012), renowned for his landscape paintings, and the Soviet-era composer Pavel Vasilyev (1910-1994), whose works encompassed various genres, including ballets and symphonies.

It is worth noting that the surname VASILYEV has numerous spelling variations, such as Vasiliev, Vasilev, and Vassiliev, due to the transliteration of the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet used in different languages and regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vasilyev

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

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

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

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