2000
#490
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 61,582
First available Census row
Per 100,000 22.83
Uncommon Last name
Salinas
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near salt marshes or saltworks.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 92,172 Americans carry the last name Salinas. That puts it at #390 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 26.89 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,719 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Salinas surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Salinas with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
92K
1 in 3,719
Census rank
#390
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
26.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
80K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 80,378 bearers of the surname Salinas in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 26.89 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 390th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Salinas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (5.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Salinas
The surname Salinas originated in Spain during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Spanish word 'salina', meaning a salt mine or salt marsh. This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name were likely salt workers or resided near salt marshes or salt mines.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Salinas name can be found in the Mozarabic Chronicles, a collection of historical texts written in the 12th century. These chronicles document the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors by Christian forces.
In the 13th century, the name Salinas appeared in records from the Kingdom of Castile, particularly in the region of La Mancha. It is believed that some of the earliest Salinas families were landowners or worked in the salt mining industry in this area.
A notable early bearer of the name was Pedro Salinas, a Spanish poet and scholar who lived from 1891 to 1951. He was a prominent figure in the Generation of '27, a group of influential Spanish poets and writers.
Another historical figure with the Salinas surname was Juan de Salinas, a 16th-century Spanish explorer and navigator. He accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico and played a role in the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
In the 17th century, the Salinas name appeared in records from the Spanish colonies in the Americas. One such example is Diego de Salinas, a Spanish soldier and administrator who served as the Governor of New Mexico from 1668 to 1675.
The name Salinas is also associated with several place names in Spain, such as Salinas de Añana, a historic salt mining town in the Basque Country, and Salinas de Guaranda, a municipality in the province of Badajoz.
Throughout history, other notable individuals with the Salinas surname include Luis de Salinas, a 16th-century Spanish translator and humanist; Francisco de Salinas, a 16th-century Spanish music theorist and composer; and Miguel Salinas, a 20th-century Mexican politician and diplomat.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Salinas
Among Census respondents with the surname Salinas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (5.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Salinas bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Salinas surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino92.2% · 74,091
- White5.8% · 4,648
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 882
- Two or more races0.4% · 322
- Black or African American0.3% · 222
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 213
Timeline
Historical Census data for Salinas
Salinas appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#393
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 81,156
+19,574 bearers (+31.8%)
Per 100,000 27.51
Rank movement Up 97 places
2020
#390
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 80,378
-778 bearers (-1.0%)
Per 100,000 26.89
Rank movement Up 3 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #490 | 61,582 | 22.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #393 | 81,156 | 27.51 | +19,574 bearers (+31.8%) | Up 97 places |
| 2020 | #390 | 80,378 | 26.89 | -778 bearers (-1.0%) | Up 3 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Salinas surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #393 | #390 | 0.8% |
| Count | 81,156 | 80,378 | -1.0% |
| Per 100K | 27.51 | 26.89 | -2.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Salinas bearers went from 81,156 to 80,378 (-1.0% change). The surname moved up 3 positions in the national ranking, going from #393 to #390.
FAQ
Salinas surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Salinas?
Name Census estimates that about 92,172 living Americans carry the surname Salinas. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,719 residents.
How common is Salinas?
Salinas ranks #390 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 26.89 per 100,000 residents, which is about 27 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 80,378 people with the surname Salinas. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (92,172), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 26.89 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 26.89 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 27 of them to have the surname Salinas.
Has Salinas become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Salinas went from 81,156 recorded bearers to 80,378. That is a decrease of 778 (-1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #393 to #390.
What does the Census say about the background of Salinas?
Among Census respondents with the surname Salinas, the largest self-reported group is Hispanic at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (5.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Hispanic is the largest self-reported group for the surname Salinas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (74,091 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Salinas appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Hispanic (92.2%), White (5.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Salinas (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Salinas mean?
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near salt marshes or saltworks. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Salinas (26.89 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Salinas?
Want to know how many people have the surname Salinas? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.