Explore the Family Name Kawabata

The meaning of Kawabata

Japanese: written 川端 or 河端 ‘river bank’. One family is descended from the northern Fujiwara through the Saionji family; the other from the Sasaki family. The name is also found in Okinawa. Some characteristic forenames: Japanese Hiroshi, Kohei, Osamu, Yasuhiro, Akira, Fumihiko, Hideo, Hiroki, Hiroko, Hiroyuki, Kazumi, Kazuto.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Kawabata saw a slight decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The ranking of the surname dropped from 45,149th in 2000 to 48,436th in 2010, indicating a decrease of 7.28%. Over the same period, the count of individuals with this last name also decreased from 447 to 436, a change of -2.46%. This is further reflected in the proportion per 100,000 people, which fell by 11.76% from 0.17 to 0.15.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#45,149	#48,436	-7.28%
Count	447	436	-2.46%
Proportion per 100k	0.17	0.15	-11.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kawabata

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Kawabata identify as Asian/Pacific Islander, although this demographic saw a slight drop from 88.14% in 2000 to 85.78% in 2010. The second largest group identified as having two or more races, increasing slightly from 7.38% to 7.80% over the same period. Those identifying as White also saw an increase, going from 4.25% to 4.59%. Notably, there was the emergence of a Hispanic representation in 2010 that was not present in 2000, while the categories of Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native remained at 0% for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	88.14%	85.78%	-2.68%
Two or More Races	7.38%	7.8%	5.69%
White	4.25%	4.59%	8%
Hispanic	0%	1.61%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%