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

Finkelshteyn, 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 Finkelshteyn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Finkelshteyn in America

Finkelshteyn is the 98982nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Finkelshteyn surname appeared 183 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 Finkelshteyn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Finkelshteyn 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 Finkelshteyn

The surname Finkelshteyn originates from the Yiddish language and has its roots in Eastern Europe, particularly in areas with significant Jewish populations such as Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. The name is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century.

The Finkelshteyn surname is a combination of two words: "Finkel," which means "spark" or "little flame" in Yiddish, and "shtein," which means "stone" or "rock." This combination likely referred to a family or an individual whose occupation involved working with fire and stones, such as a blacksmith or a stonemason.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Finkelshteyn surname can be found in the Kahal records (Jewish community records) of the town of Lublin, Poland, dating back to the late 16th century. These records mention a certain Shmuel Finkelshteyn, who was a prominent member of the local Jewish community.

In the 17th century, the Finkelshteyn surname appears in various historical documents from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where many Jewish communities thrived. One notable individual bearing this name was Yakov Finkelshteyn, a respected rabbi and scholar who lived in the town of Ostrog (now in Ukraine) during the mid-17th century.

As the Jewish population migrated and dispersed throughout Eastern Europe and beyond, the Finkelshteyn surname spread to other regions. In the late 19th century, a prominent figure named Isaac Finkelshteyn (1828-1908) emerged as a successful merchant and philanthropist in Odessa, a major port city in present-day Ukraine.

Another individual with the Finkelshteyn surname was Lev Finkelshteyn (1865-1922), a Russian writer and journalist who was active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is known for his literary works that portrayed the lives of Russian Jews.

In the early 20th century, a notable figure named Mikhail Finkelshteyn (1870-1942) gained recognition as a prominent architect in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was responsible for designing several notable buildings and structures in the city.

It's important to note that due to various historical events, such as pogroms, wars, and migrations, the Finkelshteyn surname has undergone various spelling variations and changes over time, including Finkelstein, Finkelshteyn, Finkielsztejn, and others.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Finkelshteyn

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

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

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

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