Explore the Family Name Vajda
The meaning of Vajda
1. Hungarian, Slovak, Rusyn (from Slovakia), Czech, Slovenian, Croatian, and Serbian: status name from Hungarian vajda ‘leader, governor’, a title of Slavic origin (from vojvoda ‘commander, military leader’, later ‘duke’). The Hungarian name is especially common in Transylvania (which is since WWI entirely in Romania, and the surname is hence mostly spelled Vaida), where, before the creation of the independent Hungarian principality, the term had denoted the highest ranking administrative and military leader. In medieval times various Romanian village leaders, as well as the leaders of gypsy caravans, were also called vajda; this title is still in use for gypsy leaders in Slovakia, where the surname is common, too. Compare Vayda and Wayda; see also Polish Wajda. 2. Croatian: in some cases also a nickname from the dialect word vajda ‘benefit, behalf’ of Turkish origin. 3. Jewish (from Hungary): adoption of the name in 1 above either as a Hungarian calque of the formerly used German-based surname, or because the Hungarian surname has some sounds in common with the original surname. Some characteristic forenames: Hungarian Janos, Arpad, Eszter, Ferenc, Gabor, Sandor, Tibor.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Vajda in the United States?
The surname Vajda, based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, witnessed a marginal increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The ranking of this surname improved slightly from 37,534th to 37,229th. Additionally, the count of individuals with this last name increased by 7.35 percent from 558 to 599. However, despite these increases, the proportion of people with the surname Vajda per 100,000 population decreased marginally by 4.76 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #37,534 | #37,229 | 0.81% |
| Count | 558 | 599 | 7.35% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.21 | 0.2 | -4.76% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Vajda
In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the vast majority of individuals with the Vajda surname identify as White, although there was a small decrease of 0.64 percent from 2000 to 2010. There was a slight increase in those identifying as having two or more ethnic identities during the same period. The census data also noted an increase in those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, while the percentage of those identifying as Hispanic saw a decrease. No changes were observed among those identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 94.09% | 93.49% | -0.64% |
| Hispanic | 2.51% | 2.34% | -6.77% |
| Two or More Races | 2.15% | 2.17% | 0.93% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 1% | 0% |
| Black | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |