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

Nii, 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 Nii surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nii in America

Nii is the 68345th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nii surname appeared 288 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 Nii.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nii 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 Nii

The surname "Nii" is believed to have originated in Japan, deriving from a Japanese word meaning "new" or "second." It is thought to have been used as a name to distinguish younger siblings or children from their elders with the same given name.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Kamakura period (1185-1333), where it appeared in family registers and local records. During this time, the surname was often spelled with the kanji characters 新井, which can be read as "Nii" or "Arai."

In the Muromachi period (1336-1573), the name continued to be used, and there are records of a samurai named Nii Naomasa (1435-1503) who served under the Yamana clan. This suggests that the name had spread beyond just commoners and was also adopted by members of the warrior class.

As Japan entered the Edo period (1603-1868), the Nii surname became more widespread and can be found in various regional records and archives across the country. One notable figure from this era was Nii Naoyuki (1619-1691), a Confucian scholar and educator who served as a tutor to the shogun's court.

During the Meiji period (1868-1912), as Japan modernized and adopted Western naming conventions, the surname "Nii" continued to be used, though it was sometimes spelled using the phonetic katakana script (ニイ) rather than the traditional kanji characters.

Other notable individuals with the surname "Nii" include:

1. Nii Yūzō (1896-1980), a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as the Japanese ambassador to the Soviet Union during World War II.

2. Nii Naoyuki (1927-2009), a Japanese politician and member of the House of Representatives.

3. Nii Akuetteh (1942-2012), a Ghanaian economist and academic who served as the founding Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation.

4. Nii Lamptey (born 1946), a Ghanaian lawyer and former Minister of Presidential Affairs in Ghana.

5. Nii Odartey Lamptey (born 1975), a former Ghanaian professional footballer who played as a midfielder for clubs in Ghana, Belgium, and England.

While the surname "Nii" is primarily associated with Japan, it has also been adopted by individuals in other countries, likely due to migration or cultural exchanges.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nii

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

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

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

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