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

Matsukawa, 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 Matsukawa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Matsukawa in America

Matsukawa is the 73005th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Matsukawa surname appeared 266 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 Matsukawa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Matsukawa 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 Matsukawa

The surname Matsukawa has its origins in Japan, with records dating back to the mid-16th century. It is a combination of two Japanese words - "matsu" meaning pine tree and "kawa" meaning river or stream. This suggests that the name likely originated from a geographical location near a pine tree-lined river or stream.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Matsukawa can be found in the Samurai Archives of the Tokugawa Shogunate, where a Matsukawa Nobuyuki was listed as a retainer of the Hojo clan in the late 1500s. Another early reference is in the chronicles of the Siege of Osaka in 1615, where a Matsukawa Motonobu is mentioned as a skilled archer in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

In the 17th century, a Matsukawa Genroku was a celebrated poet and calligrapher in the court of the Shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa. His works are still studied and admired by scholars of classical Japanese literature.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), the Matsukawa family established themselves as prominent landowners and merchants in the Kanto region, particularly in the areas around present-day Tokyo. One notable figure from this time was Matsukawa Genzaemon, a wealthy merchant and philanthropist who funded the construction of several temples and bridges in the city of Edo (now Tokyo).

In the late 19th century, a Matsukawa Toshitaka was a pioneering educator and advocate for women's education. He founded one of the first schools for girls in Tokyo, which later became a prestigious high school bearing his name.

Throughout the 20th century, several individuals with the surname Matsukawa have made their mark in various fields, including Matsukawa Michiharu, a celebrated author and poet who received the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1962, and Matsukawa Hiromu, a renowned architect who designed several iconic buildings in Tokyo during the post-war reconstruction period.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Matsukawa

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!