2000
#127,186
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 124
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Hiratsuka
A Japanese surname derived from a place name meaning "flat meadow" or "flat plateau".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 124 Americans carry the last name Hiratsuka. That puts it at #150,935 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,764,148 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hiratsuka surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
124
1 in 2,764,148
Census rank
#150,935
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
108
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 108 bearers of the surname Hiratsuka in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150935th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hiratsuka, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 53.7%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (22.2%) and Two or More Races (14.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hiratsuka
The surname Hiratsuka is of Japanese origin, deriving from the geographic location of Hiratsuka, a city in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan. Its roots can be traced back to the late 16th century when surnames were first widely adopted in Japan.
The name Hiratsuka is believed to originate from the Japanese words "hira" meaning "flat" and "tsuka" meaning "mound" or "hill". This suggests that the name likely referred to a flat hilltop or plateau area where the earliest bearers of the name may have resided or held land.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Hiratsuka name can be found in the Shinpen Musashi Fudoki, a historical document detailing the geography and cultural traditions of the Musashi Province (present-day Tokyo and Saitama Prefectures) compiled in the early 8th century AD. This ancient text references a settlement called "Hiratsukamura" which translates to "Hiratsuka Village".
In the 17th century, a prominent figure named Hiratsuka Masayuki (1618-1680) rose to become a high-ranking samurai and served as a retainer to the powerful Tokugawa shogunate. His descendant, Hiratsuka Raicho (1886-1971), was a pioneering feminist and writer who founded the influential literary magazine "Seitō" and played a pivotal role in the early Japanese women's rights movement.
Other notable individuals carrying the Hiratsuka surname include Hiratsuka Katsunari (1927-2022), a respected archaeologist and scholar of ancient Japanese pottery, and Hiratsuka Yuji (born 1964), a contemporary manga artist and illustrator best known for his work on the "Great Teacher Onizuka" series.
The Hiratsuka name has also been associated with several place names within Japan, such as Hiratsukashi (Hiratsuka City) in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Hiratsuka Station, a major transportation hub serving the city. These place names serve as reminders of the geographic origins of the surname and its enduring connection to the region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hiratsuka
Among Census respondents with the surname Hiratsuka, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 53.7%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (22.2%) and Two or More Races (14.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Hiratsuka bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Hiratsuka surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander53.7% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native22.2% · 24
- Two or more races14.8% · 16
- White7.4% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hiratsuka
Hiratsuka appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#140,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-5 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 12,971 places
2020
#150,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-11 bearers (-9.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 10,778 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #127,186 | 124 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 12,971 places |
| 2020 | #150,935 | 108 | 0.04 | -11 bearers (-9.2%) | Down 10,778 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Hiratsuka surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #140,157 | #150,935 | -7.7% |
| Count | 119 | 108 | -9.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hiratsuka bearers went from 119 to 108 (-9.2% change). The surname moved down 10,778 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #150,935.
FAQ
Hiratsuka surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hiratsuka?
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the surname Hiratsuka. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,764,148 residents.
How common is Hiratsuka?
Hiratsuka ranks #150,935 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 108 people with the surname Hiratsuka. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (124), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Hiratsuka.
Has Hiratsuka become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hiratsuka went from 119 recorded bearers to 108. That is a decrease of 11 (-9.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #150,935.
What does the Census say about the background of Hiratsuka?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hiratsuka, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 53.7%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (22.2%) and Two or More Races (14.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Hiratsuka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.7% (58 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hiratsuka appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (53.7%), American Indian/Alaska Native (22.2%), Two or More Races (14.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Hiratsuka (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Hiratsuka mean?
A Japanese surname derived from a place name meaning "flat meadow" or "flat plateau". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Hiratsuka (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Hiratsuka?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.