The Nakamura surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,658 people carried this name — #4,633 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 38,500 people counted. That is down 2% from 7,821 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Nakamura surname

Borrowed from Japanese 中村 (Nakamura) or 仲村 (Nakamura).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Nakamura» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 188 people named Nakamura live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in City of Buenos Aires.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

City of Buenos Aires 87
Buenos Aires Province 87
Misiones 14

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

63 people named Nakamura live in Switzerland.

They live in 10 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 18
Geneva 9
Vaud 6
Aargau 6
Lucerne 5
Bern 5
Basel-Stadt 4
Neuchâtel 4

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 27 people named Nakamura.

Most of them — 27 — were born outside France.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 27

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Belgium’s population register

At least 24 people named Nakamura live in Belgium.

Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Brussels-Capital 24

Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

In the Nordic population registers

53 people named Nakamura is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 53

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

In print

Nakamura in American newspapers,
1906–1922.

Newspaper page from The Black Hills Union And Western Stock Review carrying the name Nakamura
The Black Hills Union And Western Stock Review 1906-08-31
Newspaper page from Evening Star carrying the name Nakamura
Evening Star 1922-07-07
Newspaper page from San Antonio Light And Gazette carrying the name Nakamura
San Antonio Light And Gazette 1909-10-03

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 154 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Nakamura in Australian newspapers,
1880s–1990s.

467 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Nakamura. The most, 153, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Tasmania, at 1.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 128
Queensland 98
Victoria 58
Tasmania 36
Western Australia 35
ACT (Canberra) 32
South Australia 31
Northern Territory 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Nakamura.

Who carried it

People named Nakamura,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Nakamura Kazutada
    Nakamura Kazutada 1590–1609
  • Nakazō Nakamura III
    Nakazō Nakamura III 1809–1886 · kabuki actor
  • Nakamura Masanao
    Nakamura Masanao 1832–1891 · writer
  • Nakamura Motō
    Nakamura Motō 1839–1903 · politician
  • Nakamura Keijirō
    Nakamura Keijirō 1867–1937 · lawyer

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — Nakamura Kazutada: by Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/); the others are in the public domain or CC0 · 195 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Nakamura,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States1,466 records

1,466 records of the Nakamura name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 1,022
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 288
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 107
  • Sacramento County historic burials 36
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 9
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Muneo Nakamura

    Born 1920 in California. Enlisted 1944 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; shipping clerk from Pinal County, Arizona. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2000, buried at Parlier Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Robert Yoshito Nakamura

    U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War. Born 1948, died 1992; buried at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery, Kaneohe, Hawaii.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. The receipt card sent under the U.S. Alien Registration Act of 1940
    Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s
    Alien registration Tamo Nakamura

    Born 1877 in Japan. Registered as a foreign national in Honolulu, Hawaii, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940.

    U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)

Showing 3 of 1,466 records for Nakamura in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Canada25 records

25 records of the Nakamura name in Canada
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 18
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 3
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 2
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 1
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Jukichi Nakamura

    Buried in 1993 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 78.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Sumiye Nakamura

    Died 1921; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Choichi Nakamura

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 25 records for Nakamura in Canada.

Counts: City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

France5 records

5 records of the Nakamura name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Shinji Nakamura

    Born 1948 in Japan; died 1995 in Paris.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Yuji Nakamura

    Born 1960 in Japan; died 1999 in Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Shoichi Nakamura

    Born 1934 in Japan; died 1990 in Paris.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 3 of 5 records for Nakamura in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Netherlands1 record

1 record of the Nakamura name in the Netherlands Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Fumiko Nakamura

    Died 1965 in 's-Gravenhage, aged 24.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Nakamura.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Nakamura is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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