# Watanabe (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/watanabe/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Japanese.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Japanese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 6,204 |
| US rank (2010) | 5,605 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 49,766 people |
| Change since 2000 | -1.4% (6,295 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 渡辺 (Watanabe) or 渡部 (Watanabe).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Watanabe in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 6.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 79% |
| Two or more races | 10% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Watanabe in the Empire of Japan and the United States.

## People named Watanabe

- Fumio Watanabe, actor (1929-2004)
- Greg Watanabe, American actor

## Similar surnames

Wittenberg, Whittenburg.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.