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

Kurihara, 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 Kurihara surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kurihara in America

Kurihara is the 39486th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kurihara surname appeared 557 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 Kurihara.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kurihara 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 Kurihara

The surname Kurihara is of Japanese origin, with its earliest known usage dating back to the 16th century in the Kyushu region of Japan. The name is derived from the Japanese words "kuri" meaning chestnut, and "hara" meaning field or plain, suggesting that the name may have originally referred to a place where chestnut trees were cultivated.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Kurihara surname appears in the Samurai archives of the Satsuma Domain, where a warrior named Kurihara Masatsugu is mentioned as serving under the Shimazu clan during the late 16th century. This suggests that the name may have originated from a family of samurai warriors or landowners in the region.

In the 17th century, the Kurihara clan is recorded as having established a prominent presence in the town of Kurihara, located in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. This town likely took its name from the Kurihara family, and it is possible that the surname itself originated from this area.

A notable figure in Japanese history bearing the Kurihara surname was Kurihara Sadakazu (1614-1683), a renowned Confucian scholar and advisor to the Tokugawa shogunate. His writings on ethics and governance were highly influential during the Edo period.

Another prominent individual was Kurihara Hiroo (1911-1965), a Japanese diplomat who served as the ambassador to the United States during the post-World War II era. He played a crucial role in the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States in the 1950s.

In the field of literature, Kurihara Sadako (1913-2005) was a renowned Japanese novelist and essayist, known for her works exploring themes of family, love, and the human condition. Her novel "Sumida River Chanters" is considered a classic of modern Japanese literature.

Kurihara Harumi (1947-2005) was a Japanese astronaut and the first Japanese woman to travel to space. She participated in the NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-47 in 1992, conducting various scientific experiments during her time in orbit.

The Kurihara surname has also been associated with notable figures in the world of sports, such as Kurihara Masahiro (born 1983), a professional baseball player who has played for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kurihara

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

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

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

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