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

Bitsoi, 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 Bitsoi surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bitsoi in America

Bitsoi is the 149395th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bitsoi surname appeared 110 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 Bitsoi.

The history of the last name Bitsoi

The surname Bitsoi has its origins in the Navajo language and culture of the southwestern United States. It is believed to have emerged in the late 18th or early 19th century among the Navajo people, who are an Indigenous nation with roots in the Four Corners region where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet.

The name Bitsoi is thought to be derived from the Navajo word "bits'iis," which means "flat" or "broad." This may have been a descriptive name referring to a physical characteristic or a reference to a specific geographic location associated with the family.

While written records of Navajo surnames are relatively scarce from the early periods, the name Bitsoi is known to have appeared in various documents and records kept by the United States government and tribal authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Bitsoi was Hosteen Bitsoi, a Navajo leader and medicine man who lived in the mid-19th century. He was renowned for his knowledge of traditional Navajo healing practices and played a significant role in preserving and transmitting Navajo culture and traditions.

Another notable figure was Bitsui Bitsui, a Navajo silversmith and artist who was born in 1872 and is recognized for his contributions to the development of Navajo silversmithing and jewelry-making.

In the 20th century, Carl Bitsoi (1924-2013) was a prominent Navajo artist and educator who taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts and helped to promote and preserve Navajo art and culture.

Wilma P. Bitsoi (1927-2005) was a Navajo linguist and educator who worked tirelessly to document and preserve the Navajo language. She contributed significantly to the development of Navajo language curricula and resources.

Lastly, Shonto Begay Bitsoi (1936-2015) was a highly respected Navajo Code Talker who served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, using the Navajo language to transmit coded messages that were crucial to the Allied forces' success.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bitsoi

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

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 Bitsoi 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.

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 Bitsoi was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bitsoi, 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!