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

Gelman, 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 Gelman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gelman in America

Gelman is the 12460th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gelman surname appeared 2,491 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Gelman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gelman 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 Gelman

The surname Gelman is of Yiddish and Russian origin, derived from the German word "Gelb" meaning "yellow." It was likely originally a descriptive surname given to someone with a yellowish complexion or yellow hair.

The earliest recorded instances of the Gelman surname date back to the late 18th century in areas of modern-day Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. It first appeared in various census and birth records in shtetls and small Jewish communities across these regions.

In the early 19th century, the Gelman name began appearing in official government records and documents, particularly after the Russian Empire implemented policies requiring Jews to adopt official surnames. It's possible the name evolved from earlier Yiddish spellings like "Gelmon" or "Gellman."

One of the earliest known individuals with the Gelman surname was Avrom Gelman, born around 1790 in the town of Berdychiv, which was part of the Russian Empire at the time. Records indicate he was a merchant and tradesman.

Another early figure was Rabbi Shmuel Gelman, born in 1815 in the town of Zhytomyr, who was a respected scholar and teacher in his community. He authored several works on Jewish law and philosophy.

In the late 19th century, the Gelman surname began appearing in census records in major cities like Odessa and Kyiv, as many Jews from smaller towns migrated to urban centers for economic opportunities.

As Jews faced persecution and antisemitism in the Russian Empire, many Gelmans immigrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This led to the surname's spread globally.

Notable Gelmans in more recent history include Jacques Gelman (1909-1986), a French artist and sculptor, and Marvin Gelman (1929-2012), an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Gelman Library at George Washington University.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gelman

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

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

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

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