2000
#8,528
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,559
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.32
Rare Last name
Goldfarb
A Jewish occupational surname referring to someone who dyed cloth using gold pigment or thread.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,700 Americans carry the last name Goldfarb. That puts it at #9,623 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.08 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 92,636 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Goldfarb 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
3.7K
1 in 92,636
Census rank
#9,623
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,227 bearers of the surname Goldfarb in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.08 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9623rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Goldfarb, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Goldfarb
The surname Goldfarb is of Ashkenazic Jewish origin, derived from the Yiddish words "gold" meaning gold and "farb" meaning color or dye. It likely originated in the late 17th or early 18th century in Eastern Europe, particularly in areas with thriving Jewish communities such as Poland, Ukraine, and Russia.
One of the earliest known records of the Goldfarb name dates back to the late 18th century in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A merchant named Isaac Goldfarb is mentioned in a census record from the city of Bialystok in 1784. The name may have originated as an occupational surname for a dyer or a merchant who traded in dyed fabrics or textile products.
In the 19th century, the Goldfarb surname began to appear more frequently in various Jewish communities across Eastern Europe. Notable individuals from this period include Rabbi Menachem Mendel Goldfarb (1832-1897), a prominent Hasidic leader and author from the town of Vizhnitz in modern-day Ukraine.
As Jewish migration to Western Europe and the Americas increased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Goldfarb name spread to new regions. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the United States was David Goldfarb (1848-1914), a Russian-born businessman who settled in New York City in the 1880s.
Throughout the 20th century, several individuals with the Goldfarb surname made significant contributions in various fields. These include:
1. Samuel Goldfarb (1891-1978), an American lawyer and civil rights activist who fought against racial discrimination.
2. Sidney Goldfarb (1903-1987), a renowned American psychologist and professor at the University of Chicago.
3. Alexander Goldfarb (born 1949), a Russian-American activist and human rights advocate.
4. Boris Goldfarb (1929-2009), a Russian-American mathematician and computer scientist.
5. David Goldfarb (born 1951), an American mathematician and computer scientist known for his work in optimization algorithms.
While the Goldfarb surname has its roots in Eastern Europe, it has since become widespread among Jewish communities around the world, reflecting the diaspora and migration patterns of the Jewish people over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Goldfarb
Among Census respondents with the surname Goldfarb, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Goldfarb 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 Goldfarb surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.7% · 3,025
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 113
- Two or more races1.6% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 19
- Black or African American0.4% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Goldfarb
Goldfarb 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
#9,347
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,480
-79 bearers (-2.2%)
Per 100,000 1.18
Rank movement Down 819 places
2020
#9,623
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,227
-253 bearers (-7.3%)
Per 100,000 1.08
Rank movement Down 276 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,528 | 3,559 | 1.32 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,347 | 3,480 | 1.18 | -79 bearers (-2.2%) | Down 819 places |
| 2020 | #9,623 | 3,227 | 1.08 | -253 bearers (-7.3%) | Down 276 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 Goldfarb 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 | #9,347 | #9,623 | -3.0% |
| Count | 3,480 | 3,227 | -7.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.18 | 1.08 | -8.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Goldfarb bearers went from 3,480 to 3,227 (-7.3% change). The surname moved down 276 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,347 to #9,623.
FAQ
Goldfarb surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Goldfarb?
Name Census estimates that about 3,700 living Americans carry the surname Goldfarb. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 92,636 residents.
How common is Goldfarb?
Goldfarb ranks #9,623 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.08 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,227 people with the surname Goldfarb. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,700), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.08 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.08 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Goldfarb.
Has Goldfarb become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Goldfarb went from 3,480 recorded bearers to 3,227. That is a decrease of 253 (-7.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,347 to #9,623.
What does the Census say about the background of Goldfarb?
Among Census respondents with the surname Goldfarb, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Goldfarb in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (3,025 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Goldfarb appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.7%), Hispanic (3.5%), Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Goldfarb (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 Goldfarb mean?
A Jewish occupational surname referring to someone who dyed cloth using gold pigment or thread. 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 Goldfarb (1.08 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 many people are called Goldfarb?
See how common the surname Goldfarb is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.