The Pais surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 632 people carried this name — #35,582 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 476,200 people counted. That is down 40% from 1,053 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Pais surname
Borrowed from Galician and Portuguese Pais.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Pais» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 3,591 people named Pais live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
469 people named Pais live in Switzerland.
They live in 17 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 134 people named Pais.
Most of them — 68 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 26 départements, most often Isère.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In print
Pais in American newspapers,
1887–1944.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,032,948 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Pais,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Gualdim Pais 1118–1195 -
Álvaro Pais 1400– · courtier -
Félix da Mota Pais 1794–1872 · farmer -
Miguel Pais 1825–1888 · military officer -
Pedro Pais Lapido 1841–1917 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 90 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Pais.
- Painchaud 271 · U.S. census
- Paine 8,501 · U.S. census
- Paini 123 · U.S. census
- Paino 533 · U.S. census
- Pair 2,143 · U.S. census
- Paire 122 · U.S. census
- Paisley 2,980 · U.S. census
- Paita 146 · U.S. census
- Pajak 1,352 · U.S. census
- Pajon 184 · U.S. census
- Pajor 416 · U.S. census
- Pajot 147 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Pais is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.