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

Toya, 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 Toya surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Toya in America

Toya is the 40371st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Toya surname appeared 542 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 Toya.

We can also compare 2010 data for Toya 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 Toya

The surname TOYA is believed to have originated in Japan, possibly during the 8th or 9th century. It is thought to have derived from the Japanese word "to" meaning "door" or "gate" and the suffix "ya" which can denote a place or location. This suggests the name may have referred to someone who lived near a gate or entrance to a town or village.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the surname TOYA can be found in medieval Japanese records and manuscripts from the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (1185-1600). It appears to have been particularly prevalent in the Kanto region around modern-day Tokyo.

One notable early bearer of the name was Toya Masanao, a 16th century samurai warrior who served under the powerful Hojo clan. Another was Toya Yoshitaka, a Zen Buddhist monk and calligrapher active in the late 15th century.

In the 17th century, there are records of a Toya Heizaburo, a merchant and landowner in the town of Edo (now Tokyo). His descendants carried on the family name for several generations.

During the Edo period (1603-1868), the TOYA surname also appeared to have spread to other regions like Kyushu and the Kansai area around Osaka and Kyoto. A well-known Toya from this era was Toya Shunsen (1762-1839), a skilled painter of the Kano school.

As Japan modernized in the late 19th century, the surname continued to be recorded across various parts of the country. This included Toya Tetsuzo (1836-1901), an educator and one of the founders of Japan's modern school system.

Throughout its long history, while never among the most widespread surnames, TOYA seems to have endured as a distinctly Japanese family name with roots going back many centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Toya

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

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

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

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