Explore the Family Name Opara

The meaning of Opara

1. West African (Nigeria): from the Igbo personal name Opara, meaning ‘first-born son’. 2. Polish: nickname or metonymic occupational name from opara ‘vodka’ (i.e. a clear distilled alcoholic liquor), or perhaps in some other sense related to 3 below. 3. Slovenian: nickname from opara ‘scalding water’, also ‘hot compress’, or in some other sense based on opariti ‘to scald’, figuratively ‘to dispirit’.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Opara saw a significant rise in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Opara was ranked 46,426th but climbed to 31,412th in 2010, indicating a 32.34% increase. The actual count of people with this surname also grew substantially from 432 to 737 during this decade, marking a 70.6% jump. Furthermore, the proportion of individuals named Opara per 100,000 people increased by 56.25%, moving from 0.16 to 0.25.

20002010Change
Rank#46,426#31,41232.34%
Count43273770.6%
Proportion per 100k0.160.2556.25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Opara

In terms of ethnic identity, the Census data indicates that the majority of individuals with the surname Opara identify as Black. This percentage rose slightly from 87.73% in 2000 to 93.62% in 2010. The data reveals a notable decrease in those identifying under two or more races, falling from 4.40% in 2000 to 0.68% in 2010. Similarly, there was a 28.86% decline in those identifying as White, from 6.48% to 4.61%. There were no reported changes for Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or American Indian and Alaskan Native categories. Notably, data for the Asian/Pacific Islander category was suppressed in 2010 for privacy reasons.

20002010Change
Black87.73%93.62%6.71%
White6.48%4.61%-28.86%
Two or More Races4.4%0.68%-84.55%
Asian/Pacific Islander1.16%0%0%
Hispanic0%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%