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

Feinberg, 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 Feinberg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Feinberg in America

Feinberg is the 7255th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Feinberg surname appeared 4,596 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Feinberg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Feinberg 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 Feinberg

The surname FEINBERG is of Ashkenazic Jewish origin. It is derived from the German and Yiddish words "fein" meaning "fine" or "delicate" and "berg" meaning "mountain" or "hill". This combination suggests that the name may have originated as a descriptive nickname for someone who lived in a hilly or mountainous area that was considered pleasant or delightful.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname FEINBERG can be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries in Germany and Eastern Europe, particularly in areas with significant Jewish populations such as Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. The name was likely adopted as a fixed surname during this period, as Jews in many parts of Europe were required to take on permanent family names.

One of the earliest recorded references to the FEINBERG surname can be found in the 1765 census of the Jewish community in the town of Płock, Poland, which lists a family with the surname FEINBERG. Another early record dates back to 1820 in the town of Grodno, now part of Belarus, where a FEINBERG family is mentioned in a local registry.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, many FEINBERG families emigrated from Eastern Europe to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and South America, often due to economic hardship or persecution. Notable individuals with the FEINBERG surname include:

1. Irwin Feinberg (1895-1968), an American lawyer and judge who served on the New York Supreme Court.
2. Eugene Feinberg (1888-1972), a Russian-American composer and pianist known for his works in the classical and jazz genres.
3. Samuel Feinberg (1890-1975), a Russian-American pianist and pedagogue who taught at the Moscow Conservatory.
4. Abraham Feinberg (1899-1986), a Polish-American author and journalist who wrote extensively about Jewish culture and history.
5. Joel Feinberg (1926-2004), an American philosopher known for his work on legal and political philosophy, particularly in the areas of rights, justice, and freedom.

While the FEINBERG surname is not among the most common Jewish surnames, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and can be found in Jewish communities around the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Feinberg

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

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

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

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