Sugimoto last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Sugimoto

A Japanese surname derived from sugi (cedar tree) and moto (origin/source), referring to an ancestral home or origin near cedar trees.

Sugimoto, 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 Sugimoto surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sugimoto in America

Sugimoto is the 25684th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sugimoto surname appeared 960 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 Sugimoto.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sugimoto 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 25684 24807 3.47%
Count 960 942 1.89%
Proportion per 100k 0.33 0.35 -5.88%

The history of the last name Sugimoto

The surname Sugimoto is of Japanese origin and can be traced back to the medieval period in Japan, around the 12th-16th centuries. It is believed to have originated in the Kansai region, particularly in the areas of Osaka and Kyoto.

The name Sugimoto is derived from the Japanese words "sugi" meaning Japanese cedar or cryptomeria tree, and "moto" meaning origin or source. This suggests that the name may have been associated with individuals who lived near or worked with cedar trees or were involved in the cedar logging industry.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the Sugimoto surname can be found in historical documents and records from the Muromachi period (1336-1573). However, there are no known references to the name in significant historical manuscripts like the Kojiki or Nihon Shoki.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the Sugimoto surname was Sugimoto Nobuyoshi, a samurai who lived during the late 16th century and served under the powerful Tokugawa Shogunate. Another notable figure was Sugimoto Sonoko, a renowned Noh performer and teacher who lived in the Edo period (1603-1868).

In the 19th century, Sugimoto Kogyo was a prominent businessman and industrialist who founded the Sugimoto Textile Company, which played a significant role in the modernization of Japan's textile industry.

During the Meiji era (1868-1912), Sugimoto Naojiro was a respected educator and principal of the prestigious Tokyo Higher Normal School, which later became the University of Tsukuba.

Another notable figure was Sugimoto Hiroshi, a renowned photographer born in 1948, whose works exploring concepts of time and memory have been widely exhibited and celebrated around the world.

While the Sugimoto surname is relatively common in Japan, it has also been carried by individuals of Japanese descent living abroad, particularly in countries like the United States, Canada, and Brazil.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sugimoto

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

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 Sugimoto was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 5.73% 55
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 81.25% 780
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 10.42% 100
Hispanic Origin 2.60% 25

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 Sugimoto has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 5.73% 5.63% 1.76%
Black 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 81.25% 84.82% -4.30%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 10.42% 7.86% 28.01%
Hispanic 2.60% 1.38% 61.31%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Sugimoto last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 12, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/sugimoto-surname-popularity/.

"Sugimoto last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/sugimoto-surname-popularity/. Accessed 12 October, 2024

Sugimoto last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/sugimoto-surname-popularity/.

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