Explore the Family Name Nakashima

The meaning of Nakashima

Japanese: written 中島 ‘middle island’; also pronounced Nakajima. The sense of ‘island’ is not necessarily land surrounded by water, but can denote a property surrounded by other holdings. Some characteristic forenames: Japanese Masao, Takeshi, Takeo, Hiro, Ichiro, Kaneo, Keisuke, Kiyoshi, Masaru, Morio, Satoshi, Shigeru.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Nakashima saw a slight decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. It was ranked 15,937th in the U.S. in 2000 and dropped to 16,975th in 2010, representing a change of -6.51%. The count of people with this surname also saw a marginal decrease from 1,675 in 2000 to 1,674 in 2010, a change of just -0.06%. Similarly, its proportion per 100,000 people fell by -8.06% during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#15,937	#16,975	-6.51%
Count	1,675	1,674	-0.06%
Proportion per 100k	0.62	0.57	-8.06%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Nakashima

Regarding the ethnic identity of people with the Nakashima surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows a majority identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, although this percentage decreased from 80.96% in 2000 to 77.48% in 2010, marking a -4.30% change. The percentage of people reporting two or more races increased significantly—by 34.94%—indicating a larger multiracial population within this surname group. Data also showed a rise in those identifying as Hispanic, from 3.82% in 2000 to 4.96% in 2010. The percentage of people identifying as White slightly reduced, while those identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native remained at 0.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	80.96%	77.48%	-4.3%
Two or More Races	7.7%	10.39%	34.94%
White	7.22%	6.93%	-4.02%
Hispanic	3.82%	4.96%	29.84%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%