Explore the Family Name Nagasawa

The meaning of Nagasawa

Japanese: written 永沢 ‘long swamp’. Though written with different characters today, it is of the same origin as Nakazawa, both being common placenames. This surname is found mostly in central Japan. One family of Minamoto origin came from Nagasawa-zato in Etchū (now Toyama prefecture). Some characteristic forenames: Japanese Takashi, Isamu, Noriko, Sumi, Fumio, Hatsumi, Hiro, Kaname, Kazuhiko, Kazuyo, Kimio, Masao.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Nagasawa has seen a slight decrease in ranking from 2000 to 2010, moving from 51,458th most popular to 52,970th. There was, however, a small increase in the number of occurrences of the surname during this period, with the count rising by nearly 2.89% from 380 to 391. The proportion per 100,000 people also decreased slightly, going from 0.14 to 0.13.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#51,458	#52,970	-2.94%
Count	380	391	2.89%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.13	-7.14%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Nagasawa

The ethnicity data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of individuals with the Nagasawa surname identify as Asian/Pacific Islander, despite the percentage decreasing by 2.81% from 79.47% in 2000 to 77.24% in 2010. The second-largest ethnic identity is those identifying as two or more races which also saw a decrease from 12.11% to 11.51%. The percentage of those who identify as White increased by 20.71%, from 7.63% to 9.21%. Hispanic representation also emerged in 2010, with 1.79% identifying as such, while there were no recorded changes for Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	79.47%	77.24%	-2.81%
Two or More Races	12.11%	11.51%	-4.95%
White	7.63%	9.21%	20.71%
Hispanic	0%	1.79%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%