Explore the Family Name Ada

The meaning of Ada

1. Jewish (from North Africa): from the male personal name ʿAdda, used in the Maghreb, a pet form of any of the many names beginning with ʿAbd ‘servant’. 2. Turkish: ornamental or topographic name from ada ‘island’. 3. Filipino: unexplained.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Ada in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Ada has seen an increase in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In the year 2000, it ranked 54,643 and climbed to 41,359 by 2010, reflecting a significant uptick of 24.31%. The count of people with this surname also rose substantially by 49.01%, from 353 individuals in 2000 to 526 in 2010. Correspondingly, the proportion of the Ada surname per 100,000 people showed an increase of 38.46% during the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#54,643	#41,359	24.31%
Count	353	526	49.01%
Proportion per 100k	0.13	0.18	38.46%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ada

In terms of ethnicity, the Ada surname reflects a diverse range of ethnic identities. According to Decennial U.S. Census data, the largest proportion of individuals with the Ada surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, showing a rise from 31.44% in 2000 to 40.87% in 2010 - an increase of 29.99%. Meanwhile, those identifying as White decreased from 42.21% in 2000 to 30.99% in 2010, a decline of 26.58%. The data also shows a new category in 2010, with 9.89% identifying with two or more races. Those identifying as Black reduced slightly from 12.46% to 11.22%. Notably, there were no individuals who identified as Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2010, compared to 8.22% and 0% respectively in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	31.44%	40.87%	29.99%
White	42.21%	30.99%	-26.58%
Black	12.46%	11.22%	-9.95%
Two or More Races	0%	9.89%	0%
Hispanic	8.22%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%