The Sales surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 10,439 people carried this name — #3,418 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 28,200 people counted. That is up 20% from 8,725 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Sales surname
From Spanish, from Catalan sales.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Sales» (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 1,888 people named Sales 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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 1,420 people named Sales.
144 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 64 départements, most often Pyrénées-Orientales.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
128 people named Sales live in Switzerland.
They live in 15 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where 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 the Nordic population registers
33 people named Sales is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Sales in American newspapers,
1913–1958.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 4,617,407 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Sales,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Asensio Sales 1699–1766 · Catholic priest -
François Sales de Costebelle 1740–1821 · politician -
Francisco de Sales Arrieta 1768–1843 · Catholic priest -
Manuel Sales y Ferré 1843–1910 · historian -
Francisco Navarro de Morais Sales 1854–1939 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 133 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Sales.
- Salem 8,404 · U.S. census
- Salemi 1,365 · U.S. census
- Salemme 465 · U.S. census
- Salen 299 · U.S. census
- Salerno 9,440 · U.S. census
- Salery 102 · U.S. census
- Salet 100 · U.S. census
- Saley 301 · U.S. census
- Salgado 45,469 · U.S. census
- Salha 205 · U.S. census
- Sali 329 · U.S. census
- Saliba 2,245 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Sales 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.