Explore the Family Name Muranaka

The meaning of Muranaka

Japanese: written 村中 ‘(one who lives) in the center of the village’: found throughout Japan, but not in large numbers. Some characteristic forenames: Japanese Hideo, Nobuo, Shigemi, Tamotsu, Tomio, Akio, Haruko, Kaoru, Koji, Masashi, Momoyo, Sadamu.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Muranaka saw a slight decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010, dropping from rank 51,024 to 51,941, reflecting a change of -1.8%. However, the count of individuals with this last name increased by 4.17% during the same period, rising from 384 people in 2000 to 400 people in 2010. The proportion per 100,000 people remained unchanged at 0.14.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#51,024	#51,941	-1.8%
Count	384	400	4.17%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.14	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Muranaka

When considering the ethnic identity associated with the surname Muranaka, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that there was a significant shift between 2000 and 2010. Although the majority of individuals with this surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, this segment decreased by 8.39 percentage points, from 85.42% to 78.25%. On the other hand, those identifying as having two or more ethnicities experienced a substantial increase, more than doubling from 5.73% to 11.50%. The White ethnicity segment also saw an increase, going up by 16.60%, from 7.29% to 8.50%. A small portion of the Muranaka population began identifying as Hispanic in 2010, while the segments identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native remained at zero.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	85.42%	78.25%	-8.39%
Two or More Races	5.73%	11.5%	100.7%
White	7.29%	8.5%	16.6%
Hispanic	0%	1.75%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%