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

Hirabayashi, 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 Hirabayashi surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hirabayashi in America

Hirabayashi is the 69392nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hirabayashi surname appeared 283 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 Hirabayashi.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hirabayashi 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 Hirabayashi

The surname Hirabayashi is of Japanese origin, tracing its roots back to medieval Japan. It is a combination of two words: "hira," which means flat or level, and "bayashi," which means grove or forest. This suggests that the name may have originated from a place name referring to a level or flat area with a grove or forest.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Hirabayashi name can be found in the Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE) records of samurai families in the Kyoto region. It is believed that the name may have been used to identify a family or individual who hailed from a particular flat, forested area in that region.

In the Edo period (1603-1868 CE), the Hirabayashi name appears in several historical records and documents related to the various feudal domains and clans of that time. One notable example is Hirabayashi Masahiro (1611-1674), a prominent samurai and retainer of the Tokugawa shogunate.

During the Meiji era (1868-1912 CE), the Hirabayashi name gained further prominence with individuals like Hirabayashi Kyubun (1842-1924), a respected scholar and calligrapher who was appointed as a member of the imperial household's scholarly council.

Another noteworthy figure was Hirabayashi Taiko (1905-1972), a renowned dancer and choreographer who played a significant role in preserving and promoting traditional Japanese dance forms.

In more recent times, Hirabayashi Gordon K. (1918-2012), an American sociologist and author, made significant contributions to the study of race relations and Japanese American internment during World War II.

Throughout its history, the Hirabayashi name has been associated with various regions and place names in Japan, such as Hirabayashi-mura (Hirabayashi village) in Aichi Prefecture and Hirabayashi-cho (Hirabayashi town) in Saitama Prefecture. These place names likely originated from the geographic features of the areas, reflecting the meaning of the surname itself.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hirabayashi

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

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

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

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