2000
#38,320
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 543
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.20
Very Rare Last name
Garfinkle
An Americanized version of the Jewish surname Gorfinkl, stemming from the Polish town of Garbów.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 569 Americans carry the last name Garfinkle. That puts it at #46,335 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.17 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 602,380 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Garfinkle surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
569
1 in 602,380
Census rank
#46,335
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
496
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 496 bearers of the surname Garfinkle in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.17 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 46335th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Garfinkle, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Garfinkle
The surname Garfinkle is of Yiddish and German origin, derived from the town of Garfinkel in what is now Poland. The name first appeared in historical records in the late 16th century, when the region was part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The name Garfinkle is a toponym, meaning it originated from a place name. The town of Garfinkel likely derived its name from the German words "gar" meaning "ready" or "prepared" and "finkel" meaning "finch" or a small bird. So the name may have referred to a place where finches gathered or nested.
Some of the earliest recorded instances of the Garfinkle name include Issac Garfinkle, born in 1612 in Garfinkel, and Miriam Garfinkle, born in 1623, also in Garfinkel. As Jewish communities faced persecution across Europe in the Middle Ages, many migrated eastward, carrying their surnames with them.
Notable people with the Garfinkle surname throughout history include Rabbi Shlomo Garfinkle (1765-1828), a renowned Talmudic scholar in Lithuania. Avraham Garfinkle (1819-1895) was a Jewish writer and poet who documented life in the shtetls of Eastern Europe.
Anna Garfinkle (1877-1938) was one of the first female medical doctors in Russia before emigrating to the United States in the early 20th century. Nathan Garfinkle (1901-1981) was a Zionist activist who helped establish Jewish settlements in British Mandate Palestine.
Leopold Garfinkle (1920-2005), born in Austria, was a Holocaust survivor who became a prominent architect in New York City after World War II, designing several synagogues and Jewish community centers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Garfinkle
Among Census respondents with the surname Garfinkle, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Garfinkle bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Garfinkle surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.5% · 454
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 19
- Two or more races2.0% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 9
- Black or African American0.8% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Garfinkle
Garfinkle appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#42,937
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 504
-39 bearers (-7.2%)
Per 100,000 0.17
Rank movement Down 4,617 places
2020
#46,335
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 496
-8 bearers (-1.6%)
Per 100,000 0.17
Rank movement Down 3,398 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #38,320 | 543 | 0.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #42,937 | 504 | 0.17 | -39 bearers (-7.2%) | Down 4,617 places |
| 2020 | #46,335 | 496 | 0.17 | -8 bearers (-1.6%) | Down 3,398 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Garfinkle surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #42,937 | #46,335 | -7.9% |
| Count | 504 | 496 | -1.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.17 | 0.17 | -2.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Garfinkle bearers went from 504 to 496 (-1.6% change). The surname moved down 3,398 positions in the national ranking, going from #42,937 to #46,335.
FAQ
Garfinkle surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Garfinkle?
Name Census estimates that about 569 living Americans carry the surname Garfinkle. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 602,380 residents.
How common is Garfinkle?
Garfinkle ranks #46,335 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.17 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 496 people with the surname Garfinkle. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (569), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.17 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.17 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Garfinkle.
Has Garfinkle become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Garfinkle went from 504 recorded bearers to 496. That is a decrease of 8 (-1.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #42,937 to #46,335.
What does the Census say about the background of Garfinkle?
Among Census respondents with the surname Garfinkle, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Garfinkle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (454 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Garfinkle appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.5%), Hispanic (3.8%), Two or More Races (2.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Garfinkle (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Garfinkle mean?
An Americanized version of the Jewish surname Gorfinkl, stemming from the Polish town of Garbów. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Garfinkle (0.17 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Garfinkle?
You can see how many people have the last name Garfinkle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.