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

Vasta, 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 Vasta surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vasta in America

Vasta is the 23397th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vasta surname appeared 1,087 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 Vasta.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vasta 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 Vasta

The surname Vasta originated in Italy, specifically in the regions of Campania, Calabria, and Sicily. It can be traced back to the early 16th century and is believed to have derived from the Italian word "vasto," meaning "vast" or "extensive." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who owned or lived on a large estate or in a vast area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vasta can be found in the archives of the city of Naples, where a certain Giovanni Vasta is mentioned in a document dated 1528. In the same century, there are records of a Vasta family residing in the town of Calitri, in the province of Avellino, Campania.

In the 17th century, the Vasta name appeared in various historical documents, including church records and land registries, across southern Italy. For example, in 1674, a Francesco Vasta was listed as a landowner in the town of Catanzaro, in Calabria.

Notable individuals with the surname Vasta throughout history include Antonio Vasta (1673-1739), an Italian painter and architect from Palermo, Sicily, who was renowned for his Baroque-style works. In the 19th century, Giuseppe Vasta (1818-1891) was a prominent Italian politician and lawyer from Reggio Calabria, who served as a member of the Italian Parliament.

Another notable figure was Salvatore Vasta (1856-1920), an Italian playwright and journalist from Catania, Sicily, known for his works that portrayed the struggles of the working class. More recently, Maria Grazia Vasta (1925-2017) was an Italian actress and writer from Naples, known for her roles in several Italian films in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Vasta surname has also been associated with several place names in southern Italy, such as Vasto, a coastal town in the region of Abruzzo, and Vastogirardi, a municipality in the province of Isernia, Molise. These place names likely share a similar etymological origin with the surname, reflecting the connection between the Vasta name and the concept of vastness or expanse.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vasta

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

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

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

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