Given name & surname
Tanaka
Tanaka is a surname from Japanese. It is used in English and Tagalog.
Original Japanese田仲
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1972. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Tanaka through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 139
- 10 boys · 129 girls
- Most popular year
- 1976
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2005. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 309 as a first name in 2020; 7,304 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tanaka’s family of names
In Greek usage, Tanaka as a surname is a transliteration of Τανάκα. In Japanese usage, Tanaka as a surname is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 田中. In Japanese usage, Tanaka as a surname is a Roman-alphabet rendering of 田仲.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
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