Africa Surname

36,874th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 14,304 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
South Africa
Highest density in:
Dominica

Africa Surname Definition:

AFRICA, Affrica: A favorite female name in the twelfth century which continued in use for four or five hundred years later. It is also found at a much earlier date in Ireland: Affrick, abbess of Kildare, died in 739 (Annols of Clonmacnoise).

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Africa Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
South Africa7,7671:6,975898
Philippines4,1321:24,5013,266
Nigeria9681:182,99911,180
Tanzania3191:165,96114,708
Uganda2471:158,05413,770
Malawi2091:81,91010,289
Dominica901:843189
Liberia841:52,4834,660
France741:897,604104,173
Zimbabwe511:302,71130,394
Botswana501:43,7398,388
Italy491:1,248,09675,884
Brazil371:5,785,793142,916
Canada241:1,535,233104,339
Israel221:388,98331,283
DR Congo211:3,518,075145,665
Cameroon201:1,038,45365,513
Singapore171:323,98313,856
Indonesia151:8,816,613340,855
England141:3,979,861125,553
Namibia131:185,3399,730
Mexico121:10,343,85040,270
Antigua and Barbuda121:8,264893
Venezuela111:2,745,82529,869
Spain81:5,844,00486,878
Taiwan71:3,349,24920,155
Switzerland61:1,368,81977,571
Dominican Republic41:2,608,23320,941
Kuwait41:950,17418,811
Argentina31:14,247,805235,975
Afghanistan21:16,076,59243,178
Algeria21:19,315,77697,017
Papua New Guinea21:4,076,858165,791
Somalia11:13,452,0619,224
Saint Lucia11:178,7813,800
Anguilla11:13,436792
Norway11:5,142,286129,201
United Arab Emirates11:9,162,273135,437
Malaysia11:29,494,225409,885
Lesotho11:2,032,55823,402
Ivory Coast11:23,071,23276,679
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States591:851,16452,255

The alternate forms: África (1) are calculated separately.

Africa (25,008) may also be a first name.

Africa Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

AFRICA, Affrica: A favorite female name in the twelfth century which continued in use for four or five hundred years later. It is also found at a much earlier date in Ireland: Affrick, abbess of Kildare, died in 739 (Annols of Clonmacnoise). Affreka or Affrica, daughter of Duncan, earl of Fife, became the first wife of Harald, earl of Orkney (Ork. Saga, p. 88; Skene, CS., I, p. 481). Afreka or Affrica, daughter of Fergus, lord of Galloway, married Olaf, king of the Islands, and was mother of Godfrey, ring of Man and the Hebrides, who reigned till 1187 (Early sources, II, p. 467). Aufrikr or Affrica, one of the illegitimate daughters of William the Lion, was married to William de Say (Foedera, I, pt. 2, p. 776). Godfrey, king of Man and the Hebrides, married Findguala, daughter of Muirchartach, king of Ireland, and their daughter Affrika was married to John de Courcy (Chron. Man., I, p. 80). Affrica, daughter of Edgar, son of Duuenald of Stranith, granted to the bishop of Glasgow the church of S. Brigide of Wintertonegan in the valley of the Niht (Nithsdale) in 1227 (REG., p. 120). Effrick, daughter of Coline, lord of Carrick, was mother of Coline or Callen More (HP., II, p. 84), and Eafric or Effric neyn Coigitill wrote a poem on the death of her husband MacNeill of Gigha, c. 1470 (Lismore, p. 96). Effric Makfatrik had sasine of lands of Killenane in Cowal in 1504 and in 1515 (ER., XII, p. 717,719), and as Affrica Makpatrik is again in record in 1525 as daughter of Duncan Macpatric in Cowal (RMS). An Effreta Maclachian is in record in 1570 (Poltalloch writs, p. 144) and Africk McQuhollaster is mentioned in a charter of wadset of 1571 (Scrymgeour family docs., p. 21). The name appears to have been originally that of a river goddess, Afraig (Aithbrecc mod. Gaelic Aithbreac, 'somewhat speckled'), the goddess of the (river-) ford. The name survived into the eighteenth century as Effrick = Oighrig, and absurdly Englished Euphemial.

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

User-submitted Reference

Africa (Afrika) is a patronymic surname of South African origin. It comes from the slave named Africa. These slaves seem to have commonly originated from Eastern Africa (Mozambique and Madagascar), although there are slaves named Africa from various places outside of the African continent.

- hautamaki789

Africa Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Africa Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Africa is held by more people in South Africa than any other country/territory. It can also be found as: África. Click here to see other possible spellings of Africa.

How Common Is The Last Name Africa? popularity and diffusion

It is the 36,874th most common last name at a global level. It is borne by around 1 in 509,476 people. This surname is mostly found in Africa, where 68 percent of Africa reside; 57 percent reside in Southern Africa and 57 percent reside in South Bantu Africa. Africa is also the 31,987th most commonly occurring given name throughout the world It is held by 25,008 people.

This last name is most prevalent in South Africa, where it is held by 7,767 people, or 1 in 6,975. In South Africa it is mostly found in: Western Cape, where 63 percent live, Gauteng, where 11 percent live and Eastern Cape, where 8 percent live. Barring South Africa this last name is found in 40 countries. It is also common in The Philippines, where 29 percent live and Nigeria, where 7 percent live.

Africa Last Name Statistics demography

The amount Africa earn in different countries varies somewhat. In South Africa they earn 4.01% more than the national average, earning R 247,176 per year and in Canada they earn 10.78% more than the national average, earning $55,040 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
África941/
Affrica9240/
Afrisca9235/
Africha929/
Africia928/
Africau927/
Afreica922/
Africca921/
Africas921/
Afrikca921/
D'Africa8624/
Afrika8313,913/
Afriza831,908/
Afrisa83196/
Africo83139/
Afrija8372/
Africe8318/
Efrica836/
Afreca831/
Afruca831/
Afrizah7753/
Afrikah7739/
Afrizha7730/
Afrikha7726/
Hafriza7724/
Africho7723/
Afrisah7715/
Africot7715/
Afrizsa779/
Afraiza779/
Afrioza777/
Afrizia775/
Hafrija774/
Afrizza774/
Gafrika772/
Afrieka772/
Afriqua772/
Affriza772/
Afrizai771/
Afrizaa771/
Afrizay771/
Afrecah771/
Afrizat771/
Aufrico771/
Afriche771/
Aifrijha71305/
Affricot71175/
Affriska7174/
Afrikach714/
Afrikhah713/
Afrikech711/
Hafrizah711/
Africous711/
Aufrizia711/
Afriko67453/
Ofrico67420/
Efrika67119/
Afreza67109/
Afriki6796/
Afruka6739/
Ofrika6721/
Ofriza6711/
Afrezi6711/
Afriqi679/
Afrizi677/
Áfrico674/
Afrizo673/
Afryka672/
Afrize671/
Afreka671/
Afreja671/
Afrike671/

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Africa
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis