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

Nihei, 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 Nihei surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nihei in America

Nihei is the 100791st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nihei surname appeared 179 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 Nihei.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nihei 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 Nihei

The surname NIHEI is believed to have originated in Japan during the late 16th century. It is likely derived from the Japanese words "ni" meaning "two" and "hei" meaning "soldier" or "warrior." This would suggest the name may have originally referred to someone who served as a soldier or came from a family with a military background.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the NIHEI surname can be found in the Buke Shohatto, a Japanese legal code from the early 17th century that regulated the conduct of samurai families. This text includes several references to members of the NIHEI clan, indicating they were a minor noble family at the time.

In the late 17th century, a man named NIHEI Masataka (1638-1718) gained prominence as a skilled swordsman and instructor in the Shinkage-ryu school of swordsmanship. His teachings and writings on martial arts techniques helped spread the family name.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), the NIHEI surname was also associated with several villages and towns in various regions of Japan. For example, there were small hamlets called Nihei-mura in both Aichi and Gifu prefectures.

Another notable figure was NIHEI Toshitaka (1754-1823), a scholar and government official who served as a minister during the late Tokugawa shogunate. He published several influential works on Confucian philosophy and ethics.

In more recent centuries, NIHEI Tsutomu (1865-1924) was a successful businessman and politician who helped establish the Tokyo Stock Exchange and served as a member of the House of Representatives.

The early 20th century also saw the emergence of NIHEI Shuzo (1902-1981), an acclaimed artist known for his traditional Japanese ink wash paintings depicting landscapes and nature scenes.

Throughout its long history, the NIHEI surname has remained relatively uncommon but notable examples can be found among samurai clans, scholars, merchants, artists, and government officials across many different eras of Japanese history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nihei

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

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

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