Explore the Family Name Miyagi

The meaning of Miyagi

Japanese: written 宮城 ‘shrine castle’. It is probably taken from a district in Rikuzen (now Miyagi prefecture). The same characters are also sometimes pronounced Miyashiro. Another version is 宮木 ‘shrine tree’, found both in Okinawa and eastern Japan.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Miyagi has seen a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was the 55,732nd most popular surname in the United States with 344 individuals bearing this name. However, by 2010, it had dropped to the 59,742nd rank, with only 338 people having this surname, representing a decrease of 1.74%. The proportion of this surname per 100,000 people also declined from 0.13 in 2000 to 0.11 in 2010, a change of -15.38%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#55,732	#59,742	-7.2%
Count	344	338	-1.74%
Proportion per 100k	0.13	0.11	-15.38%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Miyagi

With respect to ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Miyagi identify as Asian/Pacific Islander. However, the percentage of people with this ethnic identity decreased from 84.59% in 2000 to 79.29% in 2010. Those identifying with two or more races increased from 6.10% to 7.40%, while those identifying as White grew from 3.78% to 5.33%. A significant rise was observed among those identifying as Hispanic, increasing from 5.52% to 7.99%. There was no change for those identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	84.59%	79.29%	-6.27%
Hispanic	5.52%	7.99%	44.75%
Two or More Races	6.1%	7.4%	21.31%
White	3.78%	5.33%	41.01%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%