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

Kuma, 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 Kuma surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kuma in America

Kuma is the 92719th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kuma surname appeared 198 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 Kuma.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kuma 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 Kuma

The surname Kuma has its origins in Japan, where it first emerged during the late 7th century. It is derived from the Old Japanese word "kuma," which means "bear." This suggests that the name may have been initially bestowed upon someone who possessed bear-like traits or lived in an area with a significant bear population.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Kuma surname can be found in the Shoku Nihongi, an imperial chronicle from the 8th century. The text mentions a nobleman named Kuma no Wakamiya, who served as a provincial governor during the Nara period.

In the 12th century, the Kamakura period saw the rise of the Kuma clan, a prominent samurai family that hailed from the Hitachi Province (present-day Ibaraki Prefecture). The Kuma clan played a significant role in the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate and the preservation of the Minamoto clan's authority.

During the Muromachi period (1336-1573), a notable figure bearing the Kuma surname was Kuma Michitaka, a skilled military strategist and advisor to the Muromachi Shogunate. His contributions were instrumental in shaping the political landscape of the era.

In the 16th century, a Japanese explorer named Kuma Hirohachi embarked on several expeditions to the Pacific Northwest region of North America, making him one of the earliest known Japanese explorers to set foot on the continent.

Another noteworthy individual was Kuma Masanori (1705-1783), a revered mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of calculus and celestial mechanics during the Edo period.

Over the centuries, the Kuma surname has also been associated with various place names and locations across Japan. For instance, the town of Kuma-mura in Kumamoto Prefecture and the Kuma River, one of the major waterways on the island of Shikoku, bear this name.

While the Kuma surname has its roots in Japan, it has also been adopted by individuals of Japanese descent living in other parts of the world, reflecting the diaspora of Japanese communities throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kuma

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

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

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

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