How common is the surname Sato?

7,095 people in the United States had the surname Sato in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 43,516 Americans. It ranked 4,956th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Sato?

Reiko Sato, American actress (1931-1981), followed by Yasuhiro Sato.

Where is the surname Sato most common?

Wikidata records people named Sato in Japan and the United States.

Is the surname Sato getting more or less common?

More common. 6,864 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,095 in 2010, up 3.4%.

The surname Sato

A Japanese surname, carried by 7,095 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex S300

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Sato is more common than 96.9% of them.

Origin

Japanese origin

Borrowed from Japanese 佐藤 (Satō).

One of 123 Japanese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 7,095 people named Sato in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 43,516 Americans. That is up 3.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 6,864.

#4,956

rank among US surnames

7,095

people in 2010

2.4

per 100,000 Americans

+3.4%

change since 2000 (was #4,726)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,947	Wilkie	7,116	43,388
#4,948	Wainwright	7,114	43,400
#4,949	Rainwater	7,111	43,418
#4,951	Enright	7,108	43,436
#4,952	Ackley	7,102	43,473
#4,953	Bankston	7,101	43,479
#4,955	Nesmith	7,097	43,504

Who is named Sato

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

74% of people named Sato identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 9.1% as white (not Hispanic) and 8.8% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 74%
White (not Hispanic) 9.1%
Two or more races 8.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 7.4%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Satos

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Reiko Sato
American actress (1931-1981)
Yasuhiro Sato
Baseball player, born 1967
Makoto Satō
Actor (1934-2012)

Notable Satos come mostly from Japan (2) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Sato

Sato has the Soundex code S300, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S300.

Other Japanese surnames

All 123 Japanese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Sato come from?: Borrowed from Japanese 佐藤 (Satō).
How common is the surname Sato?: 7,095 people in the United States had the surname Sato in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 43,516 Americans. It ranked 4,956th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Sato?: In the 2010 Census, 74% of people named Sato identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 9.1% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Sato?: Reiko Sato, American actress (1931-1981), followed by Yasuhiro Sato.
Where is the surname Sato most common?: Wikidata records people named Sato in Japan and the United States.
Is the surname Sato getting more or less common?: More common. 6,864 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,095 in 2010, up 3.4%.