Explore the Family Name Nessa

The meaning of Nessa

1. Indian (West Bengal) and Bangladeshi: variant of Nisa. 2. Norwegian: habitational name from either of two farms so named in Rogaland, in Old Norse Nezi, of unexplained etymology.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Nessa has seen a significant rise in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Nessa ranked 52,500 and by 2010, it had jumped to a ranking of 33,410 – an increase of approximately 36.36%. The number of people with this surname also saw an impressive surge, growing from 371 in 2000 to 683 in 2010, marking an 84.1% leap. Proportionally, the Nessa surname went from 0.14 per 100k people in 2000 to 0.23 per 100k in 2010, reflecting a 64.29% growth.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#52,500	#33,410	36.36%
Count	371	683	84.1%
Proportion per 100k	0.14	0.23	64.29%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Nessa

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows an interesting shift for those carrying the Nessa surname. In 2000, the majority was almost evenly divided between Asian/Pacific Islander and White ethnicities, at 46.36% and 45.55% respectively. However, by 2010, there was a clear shift towards Asian/Pacific Islander identity, which rose to 72.91%, while the percentage of White individuals dropped to 24.89%. The percentage of individuals identifying as two or more races decreased significantly from 7.28% in 2000 to 1.46% in 2010. There were no recorded individuals with this surname identifying as Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	46.36%	72.91%	57.27%
White	45.55%	24.89%	-45.36%
Two or More Races	7.28%	1.46%	-79.95%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%