2010
#150,452
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Yamanishi
A Japanese surname signifying a person from the base of a mountain.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 125 Americans carry the last name Yamanishi. That puts it at #150,205 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,742,035 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Yamanishi 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
125
1 in 2,742,035
Census rank
#150,205
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
109
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 109 bearers of the surname Yamanishi in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150205th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Yamanishi, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (21.1%) and White (10.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Yamanishi
The surname Yamanishi has its origins in Japan. The name is a combination of two Japanese kanji characters: 山 (yama) meaning "mountain" and 西 (nishi) meaning "west." Historically, this surname likely indicated someone who lived to the west of a mountain or a person whose family came from a region west of a notable mountain. This geographical-based naming convention is common in Japanese surnames and points to the family’s ancestral homeland or the landscape near which they lived.
The geographical regions likely associated with the surname Yamanishi are in the central to western parts of Japan where numerous families with this surname may have resided historically. One of the earliest records hinting at such surnames can be traced back to feudal Japan, though precise written records of common surnames were not regularly kept until the Edo period (1603-1868). During this period, surnames became standardized partly due to the increasing need for bureaucratic efficiency.
Old records and manuscripts feature various instances of similar spellings and phonetic variations due to regional dialects and the evolution of the Japanese writing system. In the Edo period, government records and local registries began to maintain more systematic records of surnames, making it the first time many families’ names were documented in a relatively standardized form.
The earliest concrete example of the surname Yamanishi appears in historical texts from the early Edo period, around the early 17th century. One such reference includes a samurai named Yamanishi Harunobu, born in 1602 and who served under the Tokugawa shogunate. Another notable figure is Yamanishi Shigemoto, a scholar born in 1645 who contributed to agricultural texts of the time.
In the Meiji period (1868-1912), as Japan underwent rapid modernization and opened up to the Western world, the recording of surnames became more accurate due to new family registration laws. This led to more frequent documentation of the surname. Examples include Yamanishi Tadashi, born in 1887, an early adopter of Western agricultural techniques in the Kansai region, and Yamanishi Kunei, born in 1892, a politician who played a role in local governance.
Fast-forwarding to the 20th century, Yamanishi Kazuo, born in 1931, became an acclaimed author known for his works detailing rural Japanese life. Another noteworthy individual is Yamanishi Hiroshi, born in 1952, who became a prominent figure in Japan's academic circles for his research in environmental science.
Overall, the surname Yamanishi reveals a deep connection with the physical landscape of Japan and signifies a rich cultural heritage that has been carried through many generations, documented in varied historical contexts from samurai classes to modern academia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yamanishi
Among Census respondents with the surname Yamanishi, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (21.1%) and White (10.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Yamanishi 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 Yamanishi surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander62.4% · 68
- Two or more races21.1% · 23
- White10.1% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 5
- Black or African American1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Yamanishi
Yamanishi appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#150,205
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 247 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #150,452 | 109 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #150,205 | 109 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Up 247 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 Yamanishi 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 | #150,452 | #150,205 | 0.2% |
| Count | 109 | 109 | 0.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -8.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Yamanishi bearers went from 109 to 109 (+0.0% change). The surname moved up 247 positions in the national ranking, going from #150,452 to #150,205.
FAQ
Yamanishi surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Yamanishi?
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the surname Yamanishi. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,742,035 residents.
How common is Yamanishi?
Yamanishi ranks #150,205 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 109 people with the surname Yamanishi. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (125), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Yamanishi.
Has Yamanishi become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Yamanishi went from 109 recorded bearers to 109. That is an increase of 0 (+0.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #150,452 to #150,205.
What does the Census say about the background of Yamanishi?
Among Census respondents with the surname Yamanishi, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (21.1%) and White (10.1%). 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 Yamanishi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (68 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Yamanishi appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (62.4%), Two or More Races (21.1%), White (10.1%). 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 Yamanishi (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 Yamanishi mean?
A Japanese surname signifying a person from the base of a mountain. 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 Yamanishi (0.04 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 many people are called Yamanishi?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Yamanishi at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.