Explore the Family Name Yamanaka

The meaning of Yamanaka

Japanese: written 山中 ‘(one who lives) in the midst of the mountains’. It is a topographic name borne by various descendants of the Ogasawara, Seki, Sasaki, and Akamatsu families. It is found mainly in western Japan and the island of Okinawa. Some characteristic forenames: Japanese Hiroyuki, Koji, Akira, Hanayo, Hideki, Hiromu, Kenji, Masao, Noboru, Takeshi, Akiko, Atsushi.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Yamanaka has seen a modest increase in use between 2000 and 2010. The popularity rank of the name slightly dropped from 30,161 in 2000 to 30,509 in 2010, marking a decrease of 1.15%. However, the number of individuals carrying this surname increased by 4.37%, from 733 in 2000 to 765 in 2010. Despite the increase in raw count, the proportion of Yamanakas per 100,000 people decreased slightly by 3.7%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#30,161	#30,509	-1.15%
Count	733	765	4.37%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.26	-3.7%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Yamanaka

When it comes to ethnic identity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that most bearers of the surname Yamanaka identify as Asian or Pacific Islander. However, this group saw a slight decrease from 84.17% in 2000 to 81.05% in 2010. During the same period, those identifying as having two or more races experienced a significant increase of 38.69%, rising from 6.41% to 8.89%. The percentage of Yamanakas identifying as White decreased by 16.94%, while those identifying as Hispanic grew by 50%. No Yamanakas identified as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	84.17%	81.05%	-3.71%
Two or More Races	6.41%	8.89%	38.69%
White	6.14%	5.1%	-16.94%
Hispanic	3.14%	4.71%	50%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%