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

Fishkin, 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 Fishkin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fishkin in America

Fishkin is the 38754th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fishkin surname appeared 570 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 Fishkin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fishkin 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 Fishkin

The surname Fishkin is of Eastern European Jewish origin, derived from the Yiddish word "fish" meaning "fish." It is believed to have originated in the 16th or 17th century as an occupational name for a fisherman or someone involved in the fishing trade.

The earliest recorded instances of the Fishkin surname can be found in various Jewish community records from Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. One notable example is the mention of a Fishkin family in the 1784 census of the town of Zhlobin, Belarus.

In the 19th century, the Fishkin surname began to appear in Russian Empire records, particularly in areas with large Jewish populations such as modern-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. During this period, many Jews were required to adopt hereditary surnames, which may have contributed to the spread of the Fishkin name.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the Fishkin surname was Shmuel Fishkin, a Jewish scholar and author born in Vilna, Lithuania, in 1818. He wrote several works on Jewish law and philosophy, including a commentary on the Talmud.

Another notable Fishkin was Yakov Fishkin, a Russian-born Jewish revolutionary and Bolshevik activist who lived from 1892 to 1937. He played a role in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and later served in various positions within the Soviet government.

In the early 20th century, the Fishkin surname began to appear more frequently in the United States and other countries with significant Jewish immigrant populations. One prominent American with this surname was Morris Fishkin, a labor leader and union organizer born in Russia in 1888. He played a key role in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and other labor organizations.

Another individual of note was Yaakov Fishkin, an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) who served from 1951 to 1959. He was born in Ukraine in 1888 and was active in the Zionist movement before immigrating to Palestine in the 1920s.

Finally, a more recent example is Shelley Fishkin, an American literary scholar and professor at Stanford University. Born in 1948, she is known for her work on American literature, particularly the works of Mark Twain and the study of race and ethnicity in literature.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fishkin

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

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

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

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