2000
#43,290
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 470
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.17
Very Rare Last name
Toya
A Japanese surname with potential meanings such as 'abundant' or 'prosperous'.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 635 Americans carry the last name Toya. That puts it at #42,180 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.19 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 539,771 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Toya 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
635
1 in 539,771
Census rank
#42,180
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
554
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 554 bearers of the surname Toya in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.19 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 42180th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Toya, the largest self-reported group is American Indian/Alaska Native at 67.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Hispanic (8.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toya
Among Census respondents with the surname Toya, the largest self-reported group is American Indian/Alaska Native at 67.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Hispanic (8.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Toya 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 Toya surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- American Indian and Alaska Native67.0% · 371
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.3% · 68
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 49
- White8.5% · 47
- Two or more races2.5% · 14
- Black or African American0.9% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Toya
Toya 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
#40,371
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 542
+72 bearers (+15.3%)
Per 100,000 0.18
Rank movement Up 2,919 places
2020
#42,180
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 554
+12 bearers (+2.2%)
Per 100,000 0.19
Rank movement Down 1,809 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #43,290 | 470 | 0.17 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #40,371 | 542 | 0.18 | +72 bearers (+15.3%) | Up 2,919 places |
| 2020 | #42,180 | 554 | 0.19 | +12 bearers (+2.2%) | Down 1,809 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 Toya 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 | #40,371 | #42,180 | -4.5% |
| Count | 542 | 554 | 2.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.18 | 0.19 | 3.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Toya bearers went from 542 to 554 (+2.2% change). The surname moved down 1,809 positions in the national ranking, going from #40,371 to #42,180.
FAQ
Toya surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Toya?
Name Census estimates that about 635 living Americans carry the surname Toya. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 539,771 residents.
How common is Toya?
Toya ranks #42,180 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.19 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 554 people with the surname Toya. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (635), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.19 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.19 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Toya.
Has Toya become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Toya went from 542 recorded bearers to 554. That is an increase of 12 (+2.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #40,371 to #42,180.
What does the Census say about the background of Toya?
Among Census respondents with the surname Toya, the largest self-reported group is American Indian/Alaska Native at 67.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%) and Hispanic (8.8%). 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?
American Indian/Alaska Native is the largest self-reported group for the surname Toya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.0% (371 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Toya appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are American Indian/Alaska Native (67.0%), Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%), Hispanic (8.8%). 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 Toya (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 Toya mean?
A Japanese surname with potential meanings such as 'abundant' or 'prosperous'. 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 Toya (0.19 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 Toya?
Find out how many people have the last name Toya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.