Explore the Family Name Naidoo

The meaning of Naidoo

Indian (Andhra Pradesh): from Telugu nāyḍu ‘chief’ (from Sanskrit nāya ‘leader, chief’ + the Telugu third-person masculine suffix -ḍu).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Naidoo has gained notable popularity in recent years. In 2000, the name was ranked 62,046th most common in the United States and by 2010, it had jumped to 45,959th - a significant increase of nearly 26%. Furthermore, the number of people bearing the surname grew from 302 in 2000 to 464 in 2010, marking an impressive growth rate of over 53%. This data suggests that the proportion of individuals with the surname Naidoo per 100,000 people also rose, upping from 0.11 in 2000 to 0.16 in 2010, an increase of 45%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#62,046	#45,959	25.93%
Count	302	464	53.64%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.16	45.45%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Naidoo

In terms of ethnic identity, Naidoo shows diverse affiliations based on the U.S. Decennial Census data. The largest shift occurred in the Asian/Pacific Islander group, which increased by over 42% between 2000 and 2010, making up 65.52% of individuals with this surname in 2010. However, there was a significant decrease of over 63% in those identifying as two or more races, dropping to just 13.36% by 2010. There was a slight growth in the White demographic, rising by nearly 33% to make up 10.13% of Naidoos in 2010. The Black demographic saw a minor rise at 4.64%, reaching 9.70% in 2010. Interestingly, there were no recorded changes in the Hispanic and American Indian and Alaskan Native demographics during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	46.03%	65.52%	42.34%
Two or More Races	36.42%	13.36%	-63.32%
White	7.62%	10.13%	32.94%
Black	9.27%	9.7%	4.64%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%