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

Miyagawa, 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 Miyagawa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Miyagawa in America

Miyagawa is the 78821st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Miyagawa surname appeared 242 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 Miyagawa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Miyagawa 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 Miyagawa

The surname Miyagawa originates from Japan and can be traced back to the 8th century. It is believed to be derived from the placename "Miyagawa", which translates to "Shrine River" or "River of the Shrine". The name was likely adopted by families living near a river or body of water associated with a Shinto shrine.

In ancient Japanese records, the earliest known mention of the Miyagawa name appears in the Shoku Nihongi, a chronicle of Japanese history completed in 797 AD. This text references a village called "Miyagawamura" located in the Musashi Province, now part of modern-day Tokyo.

One of the first notable individuals with the Miyagawa surname was Miyagawa no Tsunetoki, a samurai warrior who lived during the late Kamakura period (1185-1333). He was a retainer of the powerful Hojo clan and participated in several military campaigns during the Mongol invasions of Japan in the 13th century.

During the Edo period (1603-1867), the Miyagawa family established itself as a prominent clan of hatamoto, direct retainers of the Tokugawa shogunate. Miyagawa Nobuyoshi (1592-1650) served as a senior administrator and military strategist under the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu.

In the 19th century, Miyagawa Isami (1825-1889) was a influential scholar and educator who played a key role in modernizing Japan's education system during the Meiji Restoration. He founded one of the country's first modern schools, the Kaiseijo, which later became part of the University of Tokyo.

Another notable figure was Miyagawa Kouki (1897-1994), a renowned painter and calligrapher who was designated as a Living National Treasure of Japan for his contributions to traditional Japanese art.

The Miyagawa name has also been associated with various place names in Japan, such as Miyagawa-machi in Akita Prefecture and Miyagawa-ku, a ward in the city of Sendai. These areas likely derived their names from local rivers or shrines related to the Miyagawa surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Miyagawa

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Miyagawa, 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!