The Tanaka surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,994 people carried this name — #4,439 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 36,900 people counted. That is up 1% from 7,887 in 2000.

Look up another surname

Share

What the name means

The meaning of the Tanaka surname

Japanese for “middle of the rice field”.

A transcription of the Japanese name 田中 (Tanaka), literally “middle of the rice field”.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (fr.wiktionary.org, the French edition) — entry «Tanaka», by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · translated from French and condensed.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 114 people named Tanaka 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 Buenos Aires Province.

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

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 63
City of Buenos Aires 40
Formosa 11

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

In Switzerland’s population statistics

78 people named Tanaka live in Switzerland.

They live in 7 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.

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

Where they live today

Vaud 20
Geneva 19
Bern 17
Aargau 9
Lucerne 6
Basel-Stadt 4
Zurich 3

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 Belgium’s population register

At least 32 people named Tanaka 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 18
East Flanders 9
Walloon Brabant 5

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

In the Nordic population registers

85 people named Tanaka are counted in Sweden and Finland.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 63
Finland (2026) 22

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) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

In print

Tanaka in American newspapers,
1918–1926.

Newspaper page from The Cordova Daily Times carrying the name Tanaka
The Cordova Daily Times 1921-11-01
Newspaper page from The Evening Leader carrying the name Tanaka
The Evening Leader 1918-07-24
Newspaper page from Evening Star carrying the name Tanaka
Evening Star 1926-09-03

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 202 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Tanaka in Australian newspapers,
1880s–1990s.

1,690 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Tanaka. The most, 552, date from the 1970s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

ACT (Canberra) 619
New South Wales 281
Queensland 263
Western Australia 146
Victoria 124
South Australia 80
Tasmania 58
Northern Territory 4

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

Who carried it

People named Tanaka,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Tanaka Chōbei
    Tanaka Chōbei 1834–1901 · businessperson
  • Tanaka Mitsuaki
    Tanaka Mitsuaki 1843–1939 · military personnel
  • Tanaka Chigaku
    Tanaka Chigaku 1861–1939 · theologian
  • Yasushi Tanaka
    Yasushi Tanaka 1886–1941 · painter
  • Nobuo Tanaka
    Nobuo Tanaka 1891–1966 · military personnel

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — Tanaka Chigaku: Sycomore, CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0); the others are in the public domain or CC0 · 242 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Tanaka,
in the records of 5 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 States1,123 records

1,123 records of the Tanaka name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 743
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 257
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 104
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 17
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 1
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Minoru Tanaka

    Born 1931; from Waiakoa, Hawaii. U.S. Army, armor reconnaissance specialist; killed in action 1967 in Hua Nghia, South Vietnam. Buried at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Tooru Tanaka

    Born 1924 in Hawaiian Islands. Enlisted 1946 at Fort Lewis, Washington; sales agent. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1985, buried at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii.

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

    U.S. Air Force veteran. Born 1956, died 1981; buried at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 1,123 records for Tanaka 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) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Canada39 records

39 records of the Tanaka name in Canada
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 36
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 2
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Mitsuru Tanaka

    Buried in 2001 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 66.

    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 Manabu Tanaka

    Died 1980; 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 Yosojiro Tanaka

    Died in service in 1917.

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

Showing 3 of 39 records for Tanaka in Canada.

Counts: City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. 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).

Australia4 records

4 records of the Tanaka name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 2
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 2
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Kozo Tanaka

    Retired of Moonee Ponds, Victoria; died 1975.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Kenichi Tanaka

    Arrived in Victoria in 1917 aboard the Aki Maru, aged 39.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Korchon Charles Tanaka

    Retired of Moonee Ponds, Victoria; died 1975.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 4 records for Tanaka in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

France2 records

2 records of the Tanaka 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 Azusa Tanaka

    Born 1938 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 Chikashi Tanaka

    Born 1943 in Japan; died 1994 in Paris.

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

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 Tanaka name in the Netherlands Dutch population registers
  1. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Ojukisan Tanaka

    In the population register of Nijmegen; born 1882.

    Open Archives, Regionaal Archief Nijmegen (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Tanaka.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Tanaka 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.

See the Tanaka volume
Scroll to Top