Explore the Family Name Nez

The meaning of Nez

1. Native American (Navajo): from an American English shortened and altered form of a Navajo personal name based on (or just composed of) the word nééz ‘tall, long’, such as Hastiin Nééz ‘Tall Man’ (see Hosteen and Tallman). See also Long 4. 2. French: from nez ‘nose’, applied as a nickname for someone with a big or otherwise remarkable nose.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Nez in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Nez showed a slight increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The surname was ranked 6,989th most popular in 2000, climbing to 6,948th in 2010, a change of about 0.59%. In terms of raw numbers, there were 4,421 individuals with the surname Nez in 2000, increasing to 4,827 people in 2010, which represents a growth of approximately 9.18%. The proportion per 100,000 people remained steady at 1.64 over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#6,989	#6,948	0.59%
Count	4,421	4,827	9.18%
Proportion per 100k	1.64	1.64	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Nez

The ethnicity distribution for the surname Nez also saw some minor changes between 2000 and 2010. According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the percentage of Nez's identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native decreased slightly from 93.33% to 92.13%. There was a significant decrease of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, dropping from 0.68% to 0.10%. Those identifying as two or more races saw an increase from 1.13% to 2.28%. The percentage of Nez's identifying as White decreased from 2.49% to 2.22%, while those identifying as Hispanic increased from 2.06% to 3.05%. Those identifying as Black decreased from 0.32% to 0.23%.

	2000	2010	Change
American Indian and Alaskan Native	93.33%	92.13%	-1.29%
Hispanic	2.06%	3.05%	48.06%
Two or More Races	1.13%	2.28%	101.77%
White	2.49%	2.22%	-10.84%
Black	0.32%	0.23%	-28.12%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.68%	0.1%	-85.29%