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

Ivaska, 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 Ivaska surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ivaska in America

Ivaska is the 94730th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ivaska surname appeared 193 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 Ivaska.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ivaska 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 Ivaska

The surname Ivaska has its origins in Finland, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 17th century. It is derived from the Finnish personal name Iivari, which is a variant of the biblical name Ivarus. The suffix "-ska" indicates a patronymic form, suggesting that Ivaska was originally used as a surname to denote "son of Iivari."

One of the earliest known bearers of the name Ivaska was Juho Ivaska, a farmer and landowner who lived in the village of Nivala, Northern Ostrobothnia, in the late 1600s. Records from the time mention his involvement in local disputes over land ownership and taxation.

The name Ivaska also appears in several 18th-century church records from the regions of Savonia and Karelia, which were then part of the Swedish realm. For example, a man named Matti Ivaska is listed as a member of the parish of Kitee in the 1720s.

In the 19th century, the Ivaska surname gained more prominence with the birth of Johan Ivaska (1820-1892), a renowned Finnish architect and urban planner. He designed several notable buildings in Helsinki, including the Central Railway Station and the Finnish National Theater.

Another notable figure with the Ivaska surname was Kaarlo Ivaska (1864-1928), a Finnish politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Finnish Parliament and played a significant role in the country's independence movement.

During the 20th century, the Ivaska name continued to be associated with various fields, including the arts and academia. Eino Ivaska (1906-1988) was a respected Finnish painter and sculptor, known for his abstract expressionist works. Simultaneously, Ilmari Ivaska (1924-2022) was a prominent linguist and professor at the University of Helsinki, specializing in Finno-Ugric languages.

Lastly, the name Ivaska has also been carried by individuals outside of Finland, particularly in the United States and Canada, where Finnish immigrants settled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For instance, Eino Ivaska (1920-2001), a Finnish-American artist and writer, gained recognition for his contributions to the New York City literary and art scene in the latter half of the 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ivaska

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

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

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

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