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

Okoronkwo, 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 Okoronkwo surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Okoronkwo in America

Okoronkwo is the 69996th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Okoronkwo surname appeared 280 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 Okoronkwo.

We can also compare 2010 data for Okoronkwo 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 Okoronkwo

The surname Okoronkwo has its origins in the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. It is believed to have emerged in the 15th century from the word "okoro" which means "seed" or "fruit" and "nkwo" meaning "market day" or "plaza". The name likely referred to someone who sold produce at the market or lived near the marketplace.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in an 18th century manuscript documenting the oral histories of Igbo villages. It mentions an Okoronkwo family that lived in the area now known as Anambra State. During the transatlantic slave trade, some Igbo people were captured and taken to the Americas, carrying this surname with them.

A notable early bearer of the name was Okoronkwo Nwachukwu, a renowned warrior and village leader born around 1720 in what is now Enugu State. He is said to have led successful raids against neighboring villages and played a key role in negotiating peace treaties.

In the late 19th century, the name appears in British colonial records from the era when southeastern Nigeria came under imperial rule. An Okoronkwo named Obunabo is listed as a local chief who aided the British in establishing control over the region in the 1890s.

The 20th century saw the rise of several prominent Okoronkwos. Cyprian Okoronkwo (1904-1988) was an educator who helped establish some of the earliest schools in eastern Nigeria after the colonial period. His son, Austen Okoronkwo (1932-2007) became a respected lawyer and judge.

Among the most famous bearers of the name was the novelist Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), whose full name at birth was Albert Chinualumogu Okoronkwo. His novels depicting Igbo village life before and after colonization, such as Things Fall Apart, brought worldwide recognition to Igbo culture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Okoronkwo

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

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

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

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