2000
#38,263
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 544
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.20
Rare Last name
Adjei
Derived from the Akan name "Akyei," meaning "the king has arrived" or "he who was born on a holy day."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,432 Americans carry the last name Adjei. That puts it at #13,676 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 140,935 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Adjei surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Adjei with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 140,935
Census rank
#13,676
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,121 bearers of the surname Adjei in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13676th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Adjei, the largest self-reported group is Black at 95.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.2%) and White (1.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Adjei
The surname "ADJEI" is of Ghanaian origin, tracing its roots back to the Akan people of West Africa. It first emerged in the 17th century as a surname given to children born on Mondays, as "Adjei" means "Monday-born" in the Akan language.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the name was primarily concentrated in the Ashanti region of Ghana, where the Akan people have historically resided. The earliest recorded instances of the Adjei surname can be found in colonial records from this period, as well as in local oral traditions and genealogies.
One notable early figure bearing the Adjei surname was Nana Adjei Ampofo, a prominent chief of the Ashanti people who lived in the late 18th century and played a significant role in the region's resistance against British colonial rule.
During the 20th century, the Adjei surname began to spread more widely across Ghana and beyond, as Akan people migrated to other parts of the country and abroad. Kwame Adjei, born in 1928, was a renowned Ghanaian historian and academic who made significant contributions to the study of West African history and culture.
Another notable figure was Maame Adjei, a Ghanaian writer and activist born in 1939, whose works explored themes of gender, tradition, and social change in Ghanaian society. Her novel "The Dilemma of a Ghost" is considered a seminal work of Ghanaian literature.
In more recent times, the Adjei surname has gained international recognition through individuals like Ama Adjei, a Ghanaian-British fashion designer and entrepreneur born in 1975, whose clothing line has been featured at fashion shows around the world.
Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, born in 1991, is an American writer and author of the acclaimed short story collection "Friday Black," which explores issues of race, consumerism, and identity in contemporary America.
While the Adjei surname has its roots in the Akan culture of Ghana, it has now become a part of the global diaspora, carried by individuals of Ghanaian descent to various corners of the world.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adjei
Among Census respondents with the surname Adjei, the largest self-reported group is Black at 95.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.2%) and White (1.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Adjei bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Adjei surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.4% · 2,023
- Two or more races2.2% · 46
- White1.2% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Adjei
Adjei appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#21,204
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,238
+694 bearers (+127.6%)
Per 100,000 0.42
Rank movement Up 17,059 places
2020
#13,676
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,121
+883 bearers (+71.3%)
Per 100,000 0.71
Rank movement Up 7,528 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #38,263 | 544 | 0.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #21,204 | 1,238 | 0.42 | +694 bearers (+127.6%) | Up 17,059 places |
| 2020 | #13,676 | 2,121 | 0.71 | +883 bearers (+71.3%) | Up 7,528 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Adjei surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #21,204 | #13,676 | 35.5% |
| Count | 1,238 | 2,121 | 71.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.42 | 0.71 | 69.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Adjei bearers went from 1,238 to 2,121 (+71.3% change). The surname moved up 7,528 positions in the national ranking, going from #21,204 to #13,676.
FAQ
Adjei surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Adjei?
Name Census estimates that about 2,432 living Americans carry the surname Adjei. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 140,935 residents.
How common is Adjei?
Adjei ranks #13,676 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,121 people with the surname Adjei. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,432), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Adjei.
Has Adjei become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Adjei went from 1,238 recorded bearers to 2,121. That is an increase of 883 (+71.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #21,204 to #13,676.
What does the Census say about the background of Adjei?
Among Census respondents with the surname Adjei, the largest self-reported group is Black at 95.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.2%) and White (1.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Adjei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.4% (2,023 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Adjei appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (95.4%), Two or More Races (2.2%), White (1.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Adjei (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Adjei mean?
Derived from the Akan name "Akyei," meaning "the king has arrived" or "he who was born on a holy day." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Adjei (0.71 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Adjei?
See how many Americans have the surname Adjei on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.