Find out how popular the last name Finegold is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Finegold.
German surname meaning "fine gold" or "beautiful gold."
Finegold, 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 Finegold surname is from the 2010 census data.
Finegold is the 60505th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Finegold surname appeared 333 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 Finegold.
We can also compare 2010 data for Finegold 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.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | 60505 | 58397 | 3.55% |
Count | 333 | 325 | 2.43% |
Proportion per 100k | 0.11 | 0.12 | -8.70% |
The surname Finegold is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, originating from Eastern and Central Europe in the late medieval period. It derives from the Yiddish words "fein" meaning "fine" or "delicate" and "gold," suggesting an association with the trade or crafting of fine gold jewelry or precious metalwork.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in Jewish community records and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries in regions such as Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. Variations in spelling included Feingold, Feinegold, and Fayngold, reflecting the phonetic transliteration from Yiddish to regional languages.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the surname was Rabbi Yitzchak Finegold, a prominent Torah scholar and author who lived in Poland in the late 16th century. Another notable figure was Shmuel Finegold, a successful merchant and community leader in the city of Lviv (now in Ukraine) in the early 18th century.
In the 19th century, the surname began to appear in records of Jewish immigrants to the United States and other Western countries. Solomon Finegold (1829-1907), a businessman and philanthropist from Minsk, settled in Philadelphia and became a prominent figure in the local Jewish community.
Among other noteworthy individuals with the surname are Baruch Finegold (1865-1932), a Zionist activist and co-founder of the Jewish National Fund, and Chaim Finegold (1892-1953), a Yiddish writer and journalist who contributed to various publications in New York City.
The name Finegold continues to be found among Jewish communities worldwide, particularly those with roots in Eastern and Central European countries, reflecting its origins and the migration patterns of Ashkenazi Jews over the centuries.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Finegold.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Finegold was:
Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
---|---|---|
Non-Hispanic White Only | 94.89% | 316 |
Non-Hispanic Black Only | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.00% | 0 |
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | (S)% | (S) |
Hispanic Origin | 3.60% | 12 |
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 Finegold has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 94.89% | 97.85% | -3.07% |
Black | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
Two or More Races | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
Hispanic | 3.60% | (S)% | (S)% |
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 Finegold was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Finegold, please contact us.
We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.
If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!
<a href="http://namecensus.com/last-names/finegold-surname-popularity/">Finegold last name popularity, history, and meaning</a>
"Finegold last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on May 11, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/finegold-surname-popularity/.
"Finegold last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/finegold-surname-popularity/. Accessed 11 May, 2025
Finegold last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/finegold-surname-popularity/.
Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.
Simple as that.