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

Morinaga, 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 Morinaga surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Morinaga in America

Morinaga is the 92358th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Morinaga surname appeared 199 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 Morinaga.

We can also compare 2010 data for Morinaga 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 Morinaga

The surname MORINAGA originates from Japan, with its earliest known records dating back to the late 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the combination of two words: "mori" meaning forest or grove, and "naga" denoting length or distance. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person or family residing in or near a long forest or a location characterized by its expansive wooded area.

The first documented mention of the MORINAGA name can be traced back to the late 1500s in the Tokugawa Shogunate, a feudal military government that ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period, family names were formalized and became hereditary, leading to the establishment of the MORINAGA surname.

In the 17th century, a notable figure bearing the MORINAGA name was Morinaga Koan, a Buddhist monk and scholar who lived from 1624 to 1704. He was renowned for his contributions to the Obaku Zen tradition and his works on Buddhist philosophy.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), the MORINAGA family was known to have resided in the Echigo Province, located in what is now Niigata Prefecture. Historical records from this time mention a prominent samurai named Morinaga Tomotada, who served under the Uesugi clan in the late 16th century.

Another notable figure was Morinaga Shiro, a Japanese painter and calligrapher who lived from 1832 to 1892. He was renowned for his ukiyo-e woodblock prints and his contributions to the development of the Nihonga style of painting.

In the 20th century, Morinaga Kunihiko (1899-1986) was a prominent Japanese businessman and the founder of the Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., one of Japan's largest confectionery and dairy product companies.

It is worth noting that the MORINAGA name has also been associated with several place names in Japan, such as Morinaga-machi, a town located in Gunma Prefecture, and Morinaga-son, a former village in Niigata Prefecture, which may have influenced the origin and spread of the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Morinaga

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

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

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