Explore the Family Name Pandya

The meaning of Pandya

Indian (Gujarat): Brahmin name, from Sanskrit paṇḍe ‘knowledgeable, learned’. See also Pandey, Pandit. Some characteristic forenames: Indian Bharat, Ramesh, Dilip, Jayesh, Raj, Dinesh, Jagdish, Mahesh, Manoj, Rajesh, Ashok, Ashvin.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname "Pandya" has seen a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the name improved from 12,936 in 2000 to 9,271 in 2010, marking a rise of approximately 28.33%. The count of individuals with the surname also jumped from 2,178 to 3,512 during the same period, indicating a growth rate of 61.25%. Moreover, the proportion of people named Pandya per 100,000 rose by 46.91%, from 0.81 in 2000 to 1.19 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#12,936	#9,271	28.33%
Count	2,178	3,512	61.25%
Proportion per 100k	0.81	1.19	46.91%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pandya

When it comes to the ethnic identity associated with the surname Pandya, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some intriguing shifts between 2000 and 2010. The overwhelming majority of Pandyas identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, increasing from 92.33% in 2000 to 94.42% in 2010. Meanwhile, those identifying with two or more races dropped by 39.23%, and the proportion of Whites fell slightly by 8.26%. The percentage of Hispanics and Blacks with the surname also decreased by 21.92% and 39.13%, respectively. Lastly, American Indians and Alaskan Natives bearing the surname Pandya saw a slight decrease of 7.14% over this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	92.33%	94.42%	2.26%
Two or More Races	4.13%	2.51%	-39.23%
White	2.3%	2.11%	-8.26%
Hispanic	0.73%	0.57%	-21.92%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.28%	0.26%	-7.14%
Black	0.23%	0.14%	-39.13%