Fujisawa last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Fujisawa

A Japanese surname indicating someone residing near a wisteria marsh.

Fujisawa, 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 Fujisawa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fujisawa in America

Fujisawa is the 135593rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fujisawa surname appeared 124 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 Fujisawa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fujisawa 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 135593 119644 12.50%
Count 124 134 -7.75%
Proportion per 100k 0.04 0.05 -22.22%

The history of the last name Fujisawa

The surname Fujisawa originated in Japan and is believed to date back to the late 12th century. It is derived from the Japanese words "fuji", meaning wisteria, and "sawa", meaning swamp or marsh. The name likely referred to a person who lived near a wisteria-filled marsh or swamp.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fujisawa can be found in the Azuma Kagami, a historical record of the Kamakura shogunate compiled in the late 13th century. The text mentions a samurai named Fujisawa Hidesato who fought in the Genpei War (1180-1185) on the side of the Minamoto clan.

During the Muromachi period (1336-1573), the Fujisawa clan was a prominent samurai family based in the Sagami Province (present-day Kanagawa Prefecture). They served as vassals to the powerful Hojo clan and played a role in various conflicts and battles of the era.

In the 16th century, a Fujisawa Hideyoshi (1535-1617) was a notable military commander and daimyo (feudal lord) who initially supported Oda Nobunaga but later sided with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He is known for his role in the Siege of Odawara (1590) against the Hojo clan.

Another notable figure was the Confucian scholar and poet Fujisawa Naokata (1605-1678), who served as a tutor to the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. His writings and teachings had a significant influence on Japanese Confucian thought during the Edo period.

In more recent times, Fujisawa Toshio (1892-1970) was a prominent Japanese businessman and industrialist who founded the Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Company, now known as Astellas Pharma.

Fujisawa is also the name of a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, which likely derived its name from the historical Fujisawa clan or the geographical features associated with the surname's meaning.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fujisawa

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

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 Fujisawa was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 4.84% 6
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 85.48% 106
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 7.26% 9
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 4.84% 5.22% -7.55%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 85.48% 84.33% 1.35%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Two or More Races 7.26% 9.70% -28.77%
Hispanic (S)% (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 Fujisawa was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Fujisawa last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/fujisawa-surname-popularity/.

"Fujisawa last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/fujisawa-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

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

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