Find out how popular the last name Benowitz is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Benowitz.

Benowitz, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Benowitz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Benowitz in America

Benowitz is the 61436th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Benowitz surname appeared 327 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Benowitz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Benowitz to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Benowitz

The surname Benowitz is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin. It is believed to have originated in the shtetls of Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland and Russia, in the 17th century. The name is a derivation of the Hebrew name "Ben Avitus," which translates to "son of Avitus."

Avitus was a common given name among Jews in medieval times, derived from the Latin name "Avitus," which means "ancestral" or "inherited." The addition of the suffix "-owitz" or "-vich" was a Slavic way of indicating patronymic surnames, meaning "son of."

One of the earliest documented references to the Benowitz surname can be found in the Revision Lists, which were census records maintained by the Russian Empire for tax purposes. These lists mention several Benowitz families living in the Pale of Settlement, a region designated for Jewish settlement in the late 18th century.

In the early 19th century, a notable figure named Moshe Benowitz was a respected rabbi and scholar in the town of Kobryn, now located in Belarus. He authored several works on Jewish law and theology.

As Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe to other parts of the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Benowitz surname spread to various countries. One notable bearer of the name was Shmuel Benowitz (1892-1981), a prominent Zionist leader and activist who played a key role in the establishment of the State of Israel.

Another historical figure was Max Benowitz (1915-1988), a Polish-born writer and journalist who survived the Holocaust and later documented his experiences in several books and memoirs.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the Benowitz surname was in the late 19th century, when several Benowitz families settled in New York City, fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe. Among them was Isaac Benowitz (1872-1944), a successful businessman and philanthropist who supported various Jewish charities and organizations.

Other notable individuals with the Benowitz surname include David Benowitz (1937-2021), an American criminal defense attorney and legal scholar, and Sarah Benowitz (1921-2005), a Polish-born artist and sculptor who became renowned for her abstract works.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Benowitz

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Benowitz.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Benowitz was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Benowitz has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Benowitz was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Benowitz, please contact us.

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