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

Vidals, 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 Vidals surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vidals in America

Vidals is the 33379th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vidals surname appeared 684 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 Vidals.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vidals 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 Vidals

The surname VIDALS is of Catalan origin, with roots tracing back to the medieval Kingdom of Aragon in present-day Spain. It is derived from the personal name Vidal, which itself stems from the Latin name Vitalis, meaning "life" or "lively."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Catalan town of Vilafranca del Penedès, where a certain Guillem Vidal is mentioned in a document from 1281. The name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Valencia and Catalonia during the 13th and 14th centuries.

In 1349, a Bernat Vidal was recorded as a landowner in the town of Constantí, near Tarragona. The name also appears in various administrative records from the Crown of Aragon during the reign of King Jaume I (1208-1276) and his successors.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname VIDALS was Ramon Vidal de Besalú (c. 1195-1252), a Catalan troubadour and writer who authored the influential treatise on poetic composition, "Razós de trobar." His work helped codify and preserve the lyric traditions of the Occitan language.

Another prominent figure was Francesc Vidal de Blanes (1619-1689), a Catalan Baroque painter known for his religious works adorning churches throughout Valencia and Catalonia. His masterpiece, "The Adoration of the Magi," can be found in the Basilica of Santa María in Elche.

In the realm of literature, the Catalan novelist and playwright Joan Puig i Ferreter (1882-1956) was born Joan Vidal i Codina and published several works under the pen name Víctor Català.

The name also has a presence in the New World, with Sebastián Vizcaíno (c. 1548-1624), a Spanish explorer and naval officer who led expeditions along the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, being born with the surname VIDALS.

Finally, one cannot overlook the contributions of the Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor Ricky Martin (born Enrique Martín Morales in 1971), whose paternal grandmother's maiden name was VIDALS, further demonstrating the surname's global reach.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vidals

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

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

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

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