The Most Common Hispanic Last Names in Washington State

The world would be an extremely boring place if we were all alike! I love that the cultural landscape of Washington state is made up of so many fusions of cultures, ethnicities, traditions, foods, music, art, and languages. You can tell by the variety of common last names in Washington that our wonderful blend of populations makes Washington state a truly unique and fun place to live, for the most part. We'll look at the top 20 most common Hispanic last names in Washington state.

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MY LAST NAME IS NOT THAT COMMON, BUT…

Hi, I’m Reesha, nice to meet you! My last name is COSBY. Even though my last name is not that common, it commonly gets confused. I constantly have to remind new people I meet and even some old acquaintances who should know BETTER by now, "My last name is Cosby. As in BILL, NOT BING.”

Case in point, the other week, I won a big company award at work. As you can see below, it's a heavy piece of gorgeous glass, engraved with beautiful lettering!

Whoever had it engraved misspelled my name on it.

Photo Credit: Reesha Cosby not Crosby

HERE'S MY BOSS, checking out my shiny glass award:

This is AWESOME! Look at THIS! How cool is that? Let me read what it says... ‘President’s Club Circle…Awarded to Reesha CROS-’...Wait a minute, they misspelled your last name?!

ME:

Yep. 😂

They fixed it though and just sent me a new award with my last name spelled as COSBY. 😍

Photo Credit: Reesha Cosby not CROSBY

MOVING TO WASHINGTON STATE WAS A HUGE CULTURE SHOCK FOR ME

I had a huge culture shock when I moved to Washington state over 20 years ago. I grew up in a large city in The South, but I was used to living in a multicultural world all my life. After arriving in Yakima, I suddenly found myself living amongst a small minority population of African Americans and Asians.

I felt so uncomfortable being the "odd man out", so to speak, but I adjusted quickly and learned to feel welcomed to the Pacific Northwest with open arms. I grew fond of getting to know about the arts and foods from the First Peoples of the Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation in Toppenish and Wapato.

I expanded my knowledge to learn about the 29 federally recognized tribes throughout Washington. I also made many new friends from Hispanic and various Asian-Pacific Islander backgrounds living in Washington, which made me not feel so homesick for my Tennessee hometown.

More Hispanic people are individuals and families are moving here and contributing so much to our quality of life (and our hearts) here in Washington. The latest numbers from census.gov show that our Latino friends and neighbors are increasing in number. Some school districts across the state, like the Yakima School District, have started implementing dual language immersion curriculum in public schools to ensure that all kids in Washington will have equitable access to learning Spanish.

This is vital work; it impacts the ability for the next generation to seek Spanish bilingual jobs in Washington's most urgent booming industries including healthcare, finance, media, childcare, tech, and agriculture.

In Washington state, the most common last names are Smith, Anderson, and Johnson. Most people living here are White (65%), followed by Hispanic folks (14%), Asians (11%), Black individuals (8%), and Indigenous Peoples (2%). This is based on info from census.gov and other online sources.

Top 20 Common Hispanic Last Names in WA State

See which celebrities have last names in common with the most common Hispanic last names in Washington state. Source: 2022 U.S. Census

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