Explore the Family Name Onaga

The meaning of Onaga

Japanese: written 翁長 ‘very old man’; the characters are used phonetically. Found mostly in the Ryūkyū Islands, where it is a placename in the island of Amami. Some characteristic forenames: Japanese Atsuo, Kazumi, Koji, Kotaro, Kuniko, Matsuko, Satoru, Shinzo, Shizuo, Tetsuo, Toshio, Yasue. Spanish Ana, Elena, Jaime, Oswaldo, Ricardo, Sergio.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Onaga has seen a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 56,392 in terms of prevalence, but by 2010, it had dropped to 58,042, marking a 2.93% decrease. However, the actual number of people bearing this surname increased slightly from 339 in 2000 to 350 in 2010, indicating a 3.24% growth. Despite this increase, the proportion of individuals named Onaga per 100k decreased by 7.69%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#56,392	#58,042	-2.93%
Count	339	350	3.24%
Proportion per 100k	0.13	0.12	-7.69%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Onaga

In regard to ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census shows that there were some significant changes amongst those with the Onaga surname. The largest group, Asian/Pacific Islander, saw an 11.70% decrease from 73.45% in 2000 to 64.86% in 2010. Those identifying as two or more races increased by 36.69%, from 10.03% to 13.71%. Meanwhile, the percentage identifying as White saw a 36.64% decrease. The Hispanic and Black communities both saw substantial increases, by 100.73% and 75.64% respectively. The American Indian and Alaskan Native community remained at 0.00% for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	73.45%	64.86%	-11.7%
Two or More Races	10.03%	13.71%	36.69%
Hispanic	4.13%	8.29%	100.73%
Black	4.72%	8.29%	75.64%
White	7.67%	4.86%	-36.64%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%