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

Vasques, 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 Vasques surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vasques in America

Vasques is the 10396th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vasques surname appeared 3,099 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 Vasques.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vasques 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 Vasques

The surname Vasques originated in Portugal and Spain. It is derived from the personal name Vasco, which itself comes from the Basque word "baskoz" meaning "Basque". The Basque regions of northern Spain and southwestern France are likely the original areas this surname emerged from.

Vasques is a patronymic surname, meaning "son of Vasco". It arose through the medieval tradition of identifying an individual by combining their father's name with a possessive suffix like "ez" in Spanish or "es" in Portuguese. Early recordings of the name include "Velasco Blasquez" in 1155 and "Alvaro Velasquiz" in 1166, both from Spain.

One of the earliest known bearers of this surname was Pedro Vasques de Novoa, born around 1235, who served as a knight under King Alfonso X of Castile and León. In 1274, Ruy Vasques Tenorio from Galicia, Spain fought in the conquest of Seville from the Moors.

Francisco Vasques de Coronado, born in 1510 in Salamanca, Spain, was a famous explorer who led expeditions throughout the American Southwest in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold between 1540-1542.

Miguel Vasques, born around 1510 in Portugal, was a composer and musician during the Renaissance era, serving as chapel master to the Kings of Portugal.

Alonso Vázquez de Velasco, born in 1555 in Valladolid, Spain, was a renowned historian and writer, authoring several books on Spanish history and geography in the late 16th century.

Juan Vasques, born in 1560 in Seville, Spain, was a skilled painter and artist during the Spanish Golden Age, known for his religious works and portraits.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vasques

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

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

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

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