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

Obayashi, 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 Obayashi surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Obayashi in America

Obayashi is the 118853rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Obayashi surname appeared 146 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 Obayashi.

We can also compare 2010 data for Obayashi 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 Obayashi

The surname OBAYASHI has its origins in Japan, where it first emerged in the 8th century AD. It is believed to have derived from the Japanese words "obayashi," meaning "big valley," and "obi," meaning "belt" or "sash," suggesting that the name was originally associated with a prominent family or group that resided in a significant valley region.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the OBAYASHI name can be found in the Shoku Nihongi, an imperial chronicle from the 8th century, which mentions an individual named Obayashi no Sukeyoshi, a renowned warrior and advisor to the Imperial Court during the Nara period (710-794 AD).

In the 12th century, the name OBAYASHI appeared in the Azuma Kagami, a historical record of the Kamakura Shogunate (1192-1333), where it was associated with a clan of skilled archers and military strategists who served under the prominent Minamoto family.

During the Muromachi period (1336-1573), the OBAYASHI name gained further prominence as it was linked to a family of influential Buddhist monks and scholars who resided in the Obayashi-dera (Obayashi Temple) in the Kyoto region.

One notable figure from this era was Obayashi Ryozen (1503-1585), a Zen Buddhist monk and calligrapher who was renowned for his artistic contributions and his role in preserving traditional Japanese culture during a time of significant social and political upheaval.

In the Edo period (1603-1868), the OBAYASHI name was associated with a prominent samurai clan that served under the Tokugawa Shogunate. One notable member was Obayashi Masahiro (1628-1694), a skilled swordsman and military tactician who played a crucial role in the defense of Edo (modern-day Tokyo) during the Siege of Osaka in 1615.

Another notable figure was Obayashi Teruko (1864-1937), a pioneering educator and advocate for women's rights, who established the Obayashi Girls' Academy in Tokyo, one of the first modern educational institutions for women in Japan.

As the centuries passed, the OBAYASHI name continued to be associated with various prominent individuals, including Obayashi Hiroshi (1914-2001), a renowned architect responsible for designing several iconic buildings in Japan, such as the Tokyo Dome and the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, which hosted events during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Obayashi

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

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

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