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

Nwagwu, 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 Nwagwu surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nwagwu in America

Nwagwu is the 125282nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nwagwu surname appeared 137 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 Nwagwu.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nwagwu 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 Nwagwu

The surname Nwagwu has its origins in the Igbo ethnic group of southeastern Nigeria. It is believed to have emerged around the 15th century in the region known as Igboland.

Nwagwu is derived from the Igbo words "nwa" meaning "child" and "agwu" which refers to a powerful deity or spirit in Igbo cosmology. The name likely signified a child dedicated or connected to this spiritual force.

In early Igbo oral traditions and folklore, there are references to individuals bearing the name Nwagwu, though no specific records or manuscripts have survived from that era.

One of the earliest documented instances of the name Nwagwu appears in the records of the Royal Niger Company, a British mercantile organization that operated in the region in the late 19th century. The records mention an Igbo trader named Nwagwu Okeke, born around 1840.

Another early bearer of the name was Nwagwu Nwokedi, a prominent farmer and community leader in the town of Awka, born in the mid-19th century.

In the 20th century, several notable individuals carried the Nwagwu surname. These include Nwagwu Aniebo (1905-1976), a respected Igbo linguist and educator, and Nwagwu Nwakanma (1921-2003), a pioneering Nigerian playwright and author.

Other prominent figures with the Nwagwu name include Nwagwu Ejiogu (1930-2011), a distinguished Nigerian lawyer and jurist, and Nwagwu Chukwuemeka (born 1952), a renowned Igbo artist and sculptor.

While the name Nwagwu is most closely associated with the Igbo people of Nigeria, it has also spread to other parts of West Africa and the African diaspora through migration and cultural exchange.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nwagwu

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

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

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

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