Explore the Family Name Pa

The meaning of Pa

1. Hawaiian: unexplained. 2. Burmese (Chin): variant of Par. — Note: Since Burmese do not have hereditary surnames, this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US. 3. Cambodian: written ប៉ា, from a Khmer word meaning ‘father’.

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

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

According to data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Pa saw a notable increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 40,265 in popularity, but by 2010 it climbed to 31,360 – a rise of 22.12%. Additionally, the count of individuals with the surname Pa increased from 512 in 2000 to 739 in 2010, reflecting a growth of 44.34%. The proportion per 100,000 people also grew by 31.58%, moving from 0.19 to 0.25.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#40,265	#31,360	22.12%
Count	512	739	44.34%
Proportion per 100k	0.19	0.25	31.58%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pa

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Pa also evolved over this period, as reflected in the Decennial U.S. Census data. The most significant ethnicity linked to this surname is Asian/Pacific Islander, making up 46.14% of the bearers in 2010, slightly down from 49.41% in 2000. The percentage of people of White ethnicity with this surname increased from 22.46% in 2000 to 25.98% in 2010. There was also an increase in the Hispanic representation, going up by 27.07% over the decade. However, the proportion identifying with two or more races fell from 14.26% to 12.86%. Remarkably, there were no recorded instances of Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnicities associated with the surname Pa in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	49.41%	46.14%	-6.62%
White	22.46%	25.98%	15.67%
Two or More Races	14.26%	12.86%	-9.82%
Hispanic	8.2%	10.42%	27.07%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%