Explore the Family Name Ayalew

The meaning of Ayalew

Ethiopian: from the personal name Ayalew, a cognate of Ayale, which means ‘many’ 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.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Ayalew has seen a significant increase in popularity between the years 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the Ayalew name was ranked 99,214th in frequency, but by 2010 it had risen to 53,802nd—a remarkable 45.77% change. The count of individuals with this surname also witnessed an upsurge from 169 in 2000 to 384 in 2010, indicating a notable 127.22% growth. Consequently, the proportion of those bearing the Ayalew name per 100k people also increased by 116.67%, moving from 0.06 in 2000 to 0.13 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#99,214	#53,802	45.77%
Count	169	384	127.22%
Proportion per 100k	0.06	0.13	116.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ayalew

Ethnic identity associated with the surname Ayalew, according to the Decennial U.S. Census, shows a prominent shift from 2000 to 2010. The most prevalent ethnic identification for this surname is Black, accounting for 86.39% in 2000 and increasing to 96.09% in 2010—a change of 11.23%. The data also shows that in 2000, 10.65% identified as having two or more races, however, this figure was suppressed for privacy by 2010. A small percentage of Ayalews identified as White and Hispanic in 2010, each making up 1.56%, while there were no recorded individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	86.39%	96.09%	11.23%
White	0%	1.56%	0%
Hispanic	0%	1.56%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	10.65%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%