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

Feinman, 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 Feinman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Feinman in America

Feinman is the 29740th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Feinman surname appeared 791 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 Feinman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Feinman 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 Feinman

The surname Feinman is of Ashkenazic Jewish origin, and its earliest roots can be traced back to the Yiddish-speaking communities of Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland and Russia, during the 17th and 18th centuries. It is believed to have derived from the German word "fein," meaning "fine" or "delicate," and was likely used as a descriptive surname for someone who possessed refined or elegant qualities.

The name appears to have various spelling variations, including Feinmann, Feinman, Feinmen, and Feinmen, which reflect the linguistic and cultural influences of the regions where Yiddish-speaking Jewish communities resided. These variations also hint at the challenges of accurately recording and preserving names during periods of migration and persecution.

While no definitive historical references or records have been identified, it is possible that the name Feinman or its variants appeared in local community documents or tax records within the Jewish ghettos and shtetls of Eastern Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, many such records were lost or destroyed due to the tumultuous events that affected the Jewish communities in this region.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Feinman dates back to the late 18th century, when a Rabbi Shmuel Feinman was mentioned in a Yiddish manuscript from the town of Lublin, Poland. Another notable individual bearing this surname was the Russian-American physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988), a Nobel Prize laureate renowned for his contributions to quantum mechanics and his influential lectures on physics.

Other individuals with the surname Feinman throughout history include:

1. Isadore Feinman (1899-1988), an American lawyer and judge who served on the New York Supreme Court.
2. David Feinman (1919-2008), an American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Feinman Foundation.
3. Robert Feinman (born 1949), an American author and screenwriter known for his work on television shows such as "Babylon 5" and "Crusade."
4. Naomi Feinman (born 1959), an American artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public installations.
5. Joshua Feinman (born 1975), an American businessman and philanthropist, the co-founder of the non-profit organization West Side Campaign Against Hunger.

While the surname Feinman may have evolved from various cultural and linguistic influences, its origins remain deeply rooted in the Ashkenazic Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, reflecting their unique historical experiences and traditions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Feinman

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

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

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

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