2000
#10,976
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,660
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.99
Rare Last name
Shimizu
A Japanese surname meaning "clear water," referring to a place near a clear stream or spring.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,855 Americans carry the last name Shimizu. That puts it at #11,985 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.83 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 120,054 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shimizu surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.9K
1 in 120,054
Census rank
#11,985
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,490 bearers of the surname Shimizu in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.83 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11985th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shimizu, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and White (7.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shimizu
The surname "SHIMIZU" is of Japanese origin, deriving from the Japanese language. It is believed to have originated in the 8th century AD, during the Nara period of Japanese history.
The name is composed of two Kanji characters – "shimi" meaning "pure" or "clear", and "zu" meaning "stream" or "river". Therefore, the literal translation of the name is "clear stream" or "pure water". This suggests that the name may have been originally given to someone who lived near a clear, flowing stream or river.
In medieval Japanese records, the earliest known mention of the surname Shimizu dates back to the 13th century. A document from 1274 AD refers to a samurai warrior named Shimizu Katsumoto, who fought in the Battle of Bun'ei against the Mongol invasion of Japan.
During the Edo period (1603-1868), the Shimizu name was particularly prominent in the Shizuoka Prefecture of central Japan. Several notable figures from this region bore the Shimizu surname, including Shimizu Masayoshi (1738-1801), a renowned Confucian scholar and educator.
In more recent history, the Shimizu name has been associated with several influential individuals. Shimizu Kan (1823-1892) was a pioneering teacher and advocate for girls' education in the late Edo and early Meiji periods. Shimizu Usaburo (1877-1948) was a celebrated artist and woodblock print maker, renowned for his landscape and genre scenes.
Another notable figure was Shimizu Hiroshi (1903-1966), a prominent architect who designed several iconic buildings in Tokyo, including the Tokyo Kaikan and the former Tokyo Opera City. His firm, Shimizu Corporation, is now one of Japan's largest construction companies.
The Shimizu surname has also been carried by individuals of note in other fields, such as Shimizu Reiko (1920-1938), a celebrated author and poet, and Shimizu Kunio (1936-1976), a renowned photographer known for his evocative portraits and landscapes.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shimizu
Among Census respondents with the surname Shimizu, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and White (7.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Shimizu bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Shimizu surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander78.2% · 1,947
- Two or more races9.9% · 246
- White7.3% · 181
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 109
- Black or African American0.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shimizu
Shimizu appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#11,960
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,613
-47 bearers (-1.8%)
Per 100,000 0.89
Rank movement Down 984 places
2020
#11,985
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,490
-123 bearers (-4.7%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Down 25 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,976 | 2,660 | 0.99 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,960 | 2,613 | 0.89 | -47 bearers (-1.8%) | Down 984 places |
| 2020 | #11,985 | 2,490 | 0.83 | -123 bearers (-4.7%) | Down 25 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Shimizu surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #11,960 | #11,985 | -0.2% |
| Count | 2,613 | 2,490 | -4.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.89 | 0.83 | -6.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shimizu bearers went from 2,613 to 2,490 (-4.7% change). The surname moved down 25 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,960 to #11,985.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Shimizu
FAQ
Shimizu surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shimizu?
Name Census estimates that about 2,855 living Americans carry the surname Shimizu. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 120,054 residents.
How common is Shimizu?
Shimizu ranks #11,985 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.83 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,490 people with the surname Shimizu. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,855), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.83 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.83 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Shimizu.
Has Shimizu become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shimizu went from 2,613 recorded bearers to 2,490. That is a decrease of 123 (-4.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,960 to #11,985.
What does the Census say about the background of Shimizu?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shimizu, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.9%) and White (7.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Shimizu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (1,947 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shimizu appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (78.2%), Two or More Races (9.9%), White (7.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Shimizu (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Shimizu mean?
A Japanese surname meaning "clear water," referring to a place near a clear stream or spring. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Shimizu (0.83 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Shimizu?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Shimizu is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.