Explore the Family Name Assefa

The meaning of Assefa

Ethiopian: from the personal name Assefa, which is interpreted as e.g. ‘he widened’ in the Amharic language. — Note: Since Ethiopians do not have hereditary surnames, this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US. Some characteristic forenames: Ethiopian Almaz, Mulugeta, Alemayehu, Girma, Yeshi, Zewdu, Alem, Amanuel, Araya, Bekele, Belay, Dereje, Genet.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Assefa has significantly increased in popularity between 2000 and 2010. It jumped from a rank of 38,141 in 2000 to 23,472 in 2010, reflecting an impressive 38.46% change. The count of individuals with this surname also nearly doubled during this decade, going from 546 to 1,083, which represents a 98.35% increase. The proportion per 100k people similarly rose by 85%, moving from 0.2 to 0.37.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#38,141	#23,472	38.46%
Count	546	1,083	98.35%
Proportion per 100k	0.2	0.37	85%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Assefa

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the Assefa surname is predominantly associated with the Black community, increasing from 86.08% in 2000 to 96.40% in 2010. There was a small presence within the Asian/Pacific Islander community in 2010 (0.55%), but none recorded in 2000. The percentage of individuals identifying as two or more races dropped notably from 10.26% to 1.57%. Meanwhile, the White segment saw a decrease from 1.83% to 1.20%. There were no reported individuals with the Assefa surname within the Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native communities in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	86.08%	96.4%	11.99%
Two or More Races	10.26%	1.57%	-84.7%
White	1.83%	1.2%	-34.43%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.55%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%