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

Golem, 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 Golem surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Golem in America

Golem is the 107134th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Golem surname appeared 166 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 Golem.

We can also compare 2010 data for Golem 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 Golem

The surname Golem originated in the Yiddish language, which was spoken by Ashkenazi Jewish communities across Europe. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "Golem," which refers to an anthropomorphic being created from inanimate matter. This term has its roots in the ancient Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Golem can be traced back to the 16th century in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. During this period, Ashkenazi Jews often adopted surnames based on their occupations, physical characteristics, or other descriptive attributes. The name Golem may have been given to individuals with a stoic or emotionless demeanor, resembling the legendary Golem figure.

One of the earliest known references to the name Golem can be found in the 16th-century text "Sefer Yetzirah" (Book of Creation), a seminal work in the Kabbalah tradition. This text discusses the mystical concept of the Golem and its creation through the manipulation of the Hebrew alphabet.

In the 17th century, the surname Golem appears in various Polish and Ukrainian records, including tax registers and census documents. Notable individuals bearing this name during this period include Yitzhak Golem (1620-1690), a renowned Rabbi and Talmudic scholar from Krakow, Poland.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Golem surname continued to be prevalent among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. One of the most famous individuals with this surname was Judah Loew ben Bezalel (c. 1525-1609), also known as the Maharal of Prague. According to legend, he created a Golem to protect the Jewish community from persecution.

In the 20th century, the Golem surname gained wider recognition due to the literary works of Gustav Meyrink (1868-1932) and his novel "Der Golem" (The Golem), which explored the Golem legend and its symbolism. Another notable figure with this surname was the Polish-American author Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902-1991), who incorporated elements of the Golem myth into his writings.

Other individuals with the surname Golem include Salomon Golem (1873-1942), a Polish-Jewish philanthropist and community leader, and Avraham Golem (1892-1972), a Zionist activist and one of the founders of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

While the surname Golem may have originated from the Yiddish-speaking communities of Central and Eastern Europe, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to migration and diaspora. However, its roots remain firmly embedded in the rich cultural and mystical traditions of the Ashkenazi Jewish experience.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Golem

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

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

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

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