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

Motoyama, 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 Motoyama surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Motoyama in America

Motoyama is the 89403rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Motoyama surname appeared 207 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 Motoyama.

We can also compare 2010 data for Motoyama 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 Motoyama

The surname Motoyama has its origins in Japan and dates back several centuries. It is a compound word derived from the Japanese characters meaning "origin" or "source" (moto) and "mountain" or "hill" (yama). This suggests the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near the base or foothills of a mountain.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Motoyama name appears in the Azuma Kagami, a historical chronicle of medieval Japan compiled in the late 13th century. It mentions a samurai warrior named Motoyama Nobumasa who fought in the Genpei War between the Minamoto and Taira clans in the late 12th century.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), the Motoyama clan were territorial lords based in what is now Yamaguchi Prefecture on the western tip of Honshu island. They ruled over lands that included the town of Motoyama, likely named after the clan itself.

A notable figure was Motoyama Iesada (1598-1662), a samurai and daimyo (feudal lord) who served the Tokugawa shogunate. He played a role in suppressing the Shimabara Rebellion of Christian peasants in 1637-38.

In the late 19th century, Motoyama Hiroshi (1868-1922) was an influential educator who helped modernize the Japanese school system and introduced Western-style teaching methods. He served as president of Tokyo Imperial University, a prestigious institution now known as the University of Tokyo.

Another prominent bearer of the name was Motoyama Hikoichi (1856-1938), a businessman and industrialist. He founded Motoyama Shipping Company in 1887 and helped establish Japan's first steel company, which later became Nippon Steel Corporation.

Motoyama is still a relatively common surname in Japan today, though less widespread than some other Japanese family names. It has also been carried by people of Japanese descent living abroad, such as Motoyama Tatsuo (1915-2005), a Japanese-American businessman and philanthropist based in Los Angeles.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Motoyama

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

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

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