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

Dreyfus, 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 Dreyfus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dreyfus in America

Dreyfus is the 29793rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dreyfus surname appeared 789 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 Dreyfus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dreyfus 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 Dreyfus

The surname Dreyfus is of French origin and dates back to the 17th century. It is derived from the French word "droit" which means "right" or "correct". The name is thought to have been initially given as an occupational surname to someone who was considered a fair or impartial person, perhaps a judge or magistrate.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Dreyfus can be found in various French records from the late 1600s, particularly in the Alsace region of eastern France. It is possible that the name may have derived from the German word "drei" meaning "three" and "fuss" meaning "foot", referring to a measurement or quantity. However, the French origin is more widely accepted.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Dreyfus was Raphaël Dreyfus (1670-1744), a French Jewish merchant and banker from Alsace. He was a prominent figure in the Jewish community and played a role in securing rights for Jews in France.

In the 19th century, the name gained notoriety with the Dreyfus Affair, a political scandal involving Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), a French artillery officer of Jewish descent who was falsely accused of treason. The affair and his eventual exoneration became a significant event in the fight against anti-Semitism in France.

Other notable individuals with the surname Dreyfus include Camille Dreyfus (1851-1905), a French industrialist and chemist who co-founded the Dreyfus Group, a major agricultural commodity company. Ferdinand Dreyfus (1823-1891) was a Swiss businessman and one of the founders of the Société des Usines du Rhône, a manufacturing company.

In the United States, the name Dreyfus is associated with the Dreyfus family, a prominent banking and investment management family. Jack Dreyfus (1913-2009) founded the Dreyfus Corporation, a pioneering mutual fund company, and his son Howard Dreyfus (1928-2020) later served as the company's chairman.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dreyfus

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

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 Dreyfus 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 Dreyfus 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 Dreyfus was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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