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

Finkelstein, 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 Finkelstein surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Finkelstein in America

Finkelstein is the 7258th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Finkelstein surname appeared 4,591 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 Finkelstein.

We can also compare 2010 data for Finkelstein 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 Finkelstein

The surname Finkelstein has its origins in the Yiddish language and is an Ashkenazi Jewish name. It is derived from the Middle High German words "finke" meaning "finch" and "stein" meaning "stone", creating the literal meaning of "finch stone". This suggests the name may have been occupational, referring to someone who worked with birds or stones.

The name first appeared in the 13th century in areas of modern-day Germany and Poland where Jewish communities flourished. Early variations of the spelling included Finckelstein, Finkelsten, and Finkelsztajn. As Ashkenazi Jews migrated throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, the name spread to other regions.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Finkelstein name can be found in the 1385 census records of the city of Nuremberg, Germany, which lists a "Finckelstein" family. In the 15th century, a Rabbi Moses Finkelstein was a respected scholar in the city of Frankfurt, Germany.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the Finkelstein surname. Israel Finkelstein (1865-1942) was a Russian-born Zionist leader and one of the founders of the city of Tel Aviv. Sidney Finkelstein (1919-1974) was an American chemist who made significant contributions to the study of rubber and polymers.

Benjamin Finkelstein (1865-1939) was a Russian-born American businessman and philanthropist who funded the construction of the Finkelstein Memorial Library at Tulane University in New Orleans. Norman Finkelstein (born 1953) is a controversial American political scientist and author known for his criticism of Israeli policy towards Palestinians.

Joseph Finkelstein (1776-1865) was a Polish-born mathematician and astronomer who made important contributions to the field of celestial mechanics, studying the motion of planets and comets.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Finkelstein

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

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

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

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