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

Puri, 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 Puri surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Puri in America

Puri is the 14799th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Puri surname appeared 2,005 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Puri.

We can also compare 2010 data for Puri 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 Puri

The surname Puri is believed to have originated in India, where it is thought to have derived from the Sanskrit word "puri," meaning "town" or "city." This name likely first emerged in the medieval period, though its exact origins are uncertain.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Puri can be found in the Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century document commissioned by the Mughal emperor Akbar. This text mentions several individuals with the surname Puri, suggesting that the name was already well-established by that time.

The name Puri may also be linked to certain place names in India, such as the city of Puri in the state of Odisha, which is home to the famous Jagannath Temple. It is possible that the surname originated among individuals who hailed from or had connections to this region.

Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the surname Puri. One example is Sayyid Ahmad Khan Puri (1550-1624), a prominent Sufi scholar and poet from the Mughal era. Another is Raja Ram Mohan Roy Puri (1772-1833), a renowned social reformer and one of the founders of the Brahmo Samaj movement.

In more recent times, the Puri surname has also been associated with individuals in various fields. These include Harish Puri (1925-2003), an Indian diplomat who served as ambassador to several countries, and Raghunath Puri (1925-2007), a renowned Indian classical vocalist and recipient of the Padma Bhushan award.

Additionally, the name Puri has been carried by several writers and academics, such as Balraj Puri (1919-2014), a noted Punjabi writer and recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, and Satya Narain Puri (1927-2011), a distinguished historian and former vice-chancellor of the University of Delhi.

It is worth noting that while the surname Puri is primarily found in India, it has also been adopted by individuals of Indian descent living in other parts of the world, reflecting the diaspora of Indian communities over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Puri

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

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

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

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