Diaby last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Diaby

A surname of West African origin meaning "born on a Monday".

Diaby, 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 Diaby surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Diaby in America

Diaby is the 39352nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Diaby surname appeared 559 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 Diaby.

We can also compare 2010 data for Diaby 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 39352 76700 -64.36%
Count 559 233 82.32%
Proportion per 100k 0.19 0.09 71.43%

The history of the last name Diaby

The surname DIABY is of West African origin, specifically from the regions of Mali and Guinea. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. The name is derived from the Mandinka word "jaa," meaning "to sell" or "to trade," and the suffix "-by" likely refers to a place or village.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name DIABY can be found in the chronicles of the Mali Empire, which ruled over a vast territory in West Africa from the 13th to the 17th century. The name appears in reference to a prominent family of merchants and traders who operated along the trans-Saharan trade routes.

In the 16th century, a manuscript known as the "Timbuktu Manuscripts" mentions a scholar and Islamic jurist by the name of Mukhtar al-Diaby, who lived in the city of Timbuktu, a major center of learning and trade during that time.

During the colonial era, the DIABY name was also found in regions of present-day Ivory Coast and Senegal, where families with this surname were involved in various economic and cultural activities.

Notable individuals with the surname DIABY include:

  1. Souleymane Diaby (c. 1865 - 1940), a Malian griot (storyteller and historian) renowned for preserving and transmitting the oral traditions of the Mandinka people.

  2. Mamadou Diaby (1892 - 1964), a Guinean political leader and one of the founders of the Parti Démocratique de Guinée, which played a pivotal role in the country's independence movement.

  3. Abdoulaye Diaby (1923 - 1997), a Malian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 1960s.

  4. Aboubacar Diaby (born 1950), a renowned Guinean sculptor and artist, known for his intricate wooden sculptures depicting traditional African themes.

  5. Abou Diaby (born 1986), a French professional footballer of Malian descent, who played for Arsenal and the French national team.

Throughout its history, the surname DIABY has been associated with various regions, cultures, and professions in West Africa, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and experiences of those who bear this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Diaby

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

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 Diaby was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 1.07% 6
Non-Hispanic Black Only 95.17% 532
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.61% 9
Hispanic Origin 1.97% 11

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 Diaby has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 1.07% 5.58% -135.64%
Black 95.17% 91.42% 4.02%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.61% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 1.97% (S)% (S)%

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

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

Reference this page

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"Diaby last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/diaby-surname-popularity/.

"Diaby last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/diaby-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Diaby last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/diaby-surname-popularity/.

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