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

Gelfand, 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 Gelfand surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gelfand in America

Gelfand is the 19234th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gelfand surname appeared 1,410 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 Gelfand.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gelfand 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 Gelfand

The surname Gelfand is of Jewish origin, deriving from the Hebrew personal name Gelfand, which is a combination of the Hebrew elements "gal" meaning "wave" and "fand" meaning "wolf." The name is believed to have originated in the Pale of Settlement, a region in the western part of the Russian Empire where Jews were permitted to live during the 19th century.

Gelfand is a relatively modern spelling of the name, which has evolved over time from various earlier forms. In some historical records, it appears as Gelfant, Gelfont, or Gelfund. These variations likely arose due to differences in pronunciation and transliteration from Hebrew or Yiddish into other languages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gelfand can be found in the Revision Lists, census-like records maintained by the Russian government to track the Jewish population in the Pale of Settlement. The Revision Lists date back to the late 18th century and contain numerous entries for individuals with the surname Gelfand or its variations.

In terms of notable individuals with the surname Gelfand, a few examples include:

1. Israel Gelfand (1913-2009), a prominent Soviet-American mathematician known for his contributions to the field of functional analysis.
2. Vladimir Gelfand (1923-2008), a Russian writer and journalist who published several novels and short story collections.
3. Boris Gelfand (born 1968), a Russian-Israeli chess grandmaster and former world champion candidate.
4. Aleksandr Gelfand (born 1950), a Russian-American mathematician and computer scientist known for his work in combinatorics and theoretical computer science.
5. Mikhail Gelfand (1888-1967), a Russian-Jewish composer and conductor who wrote several operas and orchestral works.

While the surname Gelfand is most commonly associated with Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and Russia, it has also spread to other parts of the world through immigration and diaspora. However, the core meaning and etymology of the name remain rooted in its Hebrew origins, reflecting the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Jewish people.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gelfand

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

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

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

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