Vohra last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Vohra

An Indian surname of the Vaishya caste involved in trade and commerce.

Vohra, 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 Vohra surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vohra in America

Vohra is the 21068th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vohra surname appeared 1,247 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 Vohra.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vohra 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 21068 27439 -26.27%
Count 1,247 827 40.50%
Proportion per 100k 0.42 0.31 30.14%

The history of the last name Vohra

The surname Vohra is of Indian origin, specifically from the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi. It is derived from the Sanskrit word 'vohra', which means a trader or merchant. The earliest known usage of the name can be traced back to the 12th century AD, during the reign of the Delhi Sultanate.

The Vohra community historically belonged to the Vaishya caste and were engaged in trade and commerce. They played a significant role in the silk and spice trade routes that connected India to Central Asia and the Middle East. The name is closely associated with the city of Firozpur, located in the Punjab region, where many Vohra families settled and established themselves as prosperous traders.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vohra can be found in the chronicles of the Mughal Empire. In the 16th century, a prominent Vohra merchant named Mian Mir Vohra was a spiritual advisor and close confidant of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. He is credited with influencing the architectural design of the famous Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan.

During the British Raj in India, the Vohra community continued to thrive in trade and business. Notable figures from this period include Sir Ganga Ram Vohra (1851-1927), a civil engineer and philanthropist who founded the Ganga Ram Hospital in Lahore, and Sir Sobha Singh Vohra (1876-1953), a prominent lawyer and judge.

In the 20th century, several individuals with the Vohra surname made significant contributions in various fields. Surjit Singh Vohra (1917-1994) was an eminent Indian diplomat and served as the Foreign Secretary of India from 1976 to 1979. Kapil Dev Vohra (1959-) is a former Indian cricketer and one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of the game.

While the Vohra surname is predominantly found in India, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora communities. Some notable individuals with this surname include Navneet Vohra (1979-), an American software engineer and entrepreneur, and Diljit Vohra, a British singer and songwriter of Indian descent.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vohra

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

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 Vohra was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 3.05% 38
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 92.86% 1,158
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.25% 28
Hispanic Origin 1.36% 17

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 3.05% 3.99% -26.70%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 92.86% 90.45% 2.63%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 2.25% 3.26% -36.66%
Hispanic 1.36% 1.57% -14.33%

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

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

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"Vohra last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 3, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/vohra-surname-popularity/.

"Vohra last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/vohra-surname-popularity/. Accessed 3 October, 2024

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

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