Explore the Family Name Niva

The meaning of Niva

Finnish: habitational name from farms so named, from niva ‘small rapids, current of a river (fast-flowing part of a river)’, with reference to their location. Established as a hereditary surname since the 18th century in northern Finland. Some characteristic forenames: Finnish Eino, Ilkka.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Niva has seen a slight decrease in popularity. In 2000, it was ranked as the 88,083rd most popular name in the United States, but by 2010, it had dropped to the 93,513th slot, indicating a downward shift of 6.16%. Despite this drop in rank, the actual count of people bearing the surname remained consistent at 196 individuals, which accounted for 0.07 out of every 100k people for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#88,083	#93,513	-6.16%
Count	196	196	0%
Proportion per 100k	0.07	0.07	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Niva

The ethnicity associated with the surname Niva also showed some shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. A majority of those with this surname identified as White, though there was a slight reduction from 85.20% to 83.67%. The proportion identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander saw an increase, moving from 3.57% to 6.12%. There was a considerable drop in the percentage of individuals identifying as Hispanic, as it fell from 11.22% to 5.61%. A new addition in 2010 was the Black demographic, accounting for 2.55% of the Niva population, although no such percentage was recorded in 2000. Those identifying as two or more races, as well as American Indian and Alaskan Native, remained stagnant at 0.00% in both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	85.2%	83.67%	-1.8%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.57%	6.12%	71.43%
Hispanic	11.22%	5.61%	-50%
Black	0%	2.55%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%