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

Neva, 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 Neva surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Neva in America

Neva is the 57914th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Neva surname appeared 351 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 Neva.

We can also compare 2010 data for Neva 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 Neva

The surname "NEVA" is believed to have originated in the Scandinavian countries, specifically in Norway and Sweden, during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old Norse word "nev," which means "fist" or "hand." This suggests that the name may have been a descriptive nickname given to someone with a distinctive feature or trait related to their hands.

In the early records, the name was often spelled as "Neve" or "Nefe," reflecting the variations in pronunciation and spelling that were common in those times. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian medieval documents, where a person named "Neve" is mentioned in a legal document dated around 1350.

The name "NEVA" has also been associated with certain place names in Scandinavia. For example, there is a village called Neva in Sweden, located in the municipality of Kristinehamn. It is believed that some individuals may have taken on the surname "NEVA" as a way to identify themselves with this particular location.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the surname "NEVA." One such person was Hans Neve (c. 1486-1537), a German Renaissance painter and printmaker known for his religious works and portraits. Another was Andreas Neva (1608-1682), a Swedish clergyman and bishop of the Diocese of Strängnäs.

In the 17th century, the name appears in the records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), where a man named Pieter Neva (c. 1620-1680) served as a navigator and cartographer. He was involved in several expeditions to the East Indies and contributed to the mapping of the region.

Moving forward in time, Olof Neva (1718-1792) was a Swedish botanist and physician who made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy and the classification of species. He is particularly known for his work on the flora of Sweden.

Finally, one cannot discuss the surname "NEVA" without mentioning Fyodor Neva (1827-1898), a Russian military officer and explorer who played a crucial role in the exploration and mapping of Central Asia during the 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Neva

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

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

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

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