Find out how popular the last name Asakawa is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Asakawa.

Asakawa, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Asakawa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Asakawa in America

Asakawa is the 129047th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Asakawa surname appeared 132 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Asakawa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Asakawa to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Asakawa

The surname ASAKAWA is a Japanese family name originating from the Kanto region of central Japan. It likely emerged in the late 8th or early 9th century during the Heian period. The name derives from the combination of two words: "asa" meaning "morning" and "kawa" meaning "river", suggesting a possible connection to a river located near where the name originated.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the ASAKAWA name appears in the Engishiki, a legal code from the year 927 AD detailing administrative protocols during the Heian era. An entry mentions a village called "Asakawa-mura" (Asakawa Village), indicating the name's longstanding roots in Japan's history.

During the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the ASAKAWA family rose to prominence as influential landowners and minor nobility. Historical records from 1262 mention an ASAKAWA Nobumitsu serving as a samurai retainer under the Hojo clan, one of the ruling families of the shogunate government at the time.

Fast-forwarding to the Edo period (1603-1867), an ASAKAWA Keisai (1590-1669) was a renowned Confucian scholar and advisor to the Tokugawa shoguns. His writings on ethics and governance influenced Japanese intellectual thought for generations.

Other notable people with the ASAKAWA surname include ASAKAWA Kan'ichi (1873-1948), a pioneering historian of medieval Japan and professor at Yale University. His seminal work, "The Diplomatic Relations Between Japan and the West in the Early Meiji Period" (1909), shed light on Japan's modernization efforts.

ASAKAWA Noritaka (1923-2019) was a celebrated Japanese artist known for his intricate wood carvings and sculptures. His works were exhibited worldwide and earned him the prestigious Order of Culture from the Japanese government in 1999.

More recently, ASAKAWA Miho (born 1973) is a Japanese voice actress who has lent her talents to numerous anime series and video games. Some of her most famous roles include Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop and Nico Robin in One Piece.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Asakawa

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Asakawa.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Asakawa was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Asakawa has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Asakawa was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Asakawa, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!