Explore the Family Name Vista

The meaning of Vista

Italian (southern): probably from a short form of a medieval personal name such as Bellavista, an omen or well-wishing name literally meaning ‘fine view’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Vista has seen a decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Vista ranked 56,687 in popularity with a count of 337 individuals bearing the name. By 2010, however, the rank had fallen to 70,403, with only 278 individuals keeping the name—a decrease of 24.2% in ranking and 17.51% in count. The proportion of people named Vista per 100,000 also fell by 25%, from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.09 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#56,687	#70,403	-24.2%
Count	337	278	-17.51%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.09	-25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Vista

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Vista also changed somewhat between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The majority of the individuals named Vista identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, with a slight increase from 51.63% in 2000 to 52.16% in 2010. The second largest ethnicity was White, though it decreased from 30.56% to 29.14%. The percentage of individuals identifying as two or more races saw a significant increase of 33.33%, coming up to 3.96% in 2010. However, those who identified as Hispanic decreased by 3.6%. Additionally, Black individuals with the surname Vista increased by 21.35%, albeit from a smaller base. There were no changes for American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	51.63%	52.16%	1.03%
White	30.56%	29.14%	-4.65%
Hispanic	13.06%	12.59%	-3.6%
Two or More Races	2.97%	3.96%	33.33%
Black	1.78%	2.16%	21.35%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%