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

Greenbaum, 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 Greenbaum surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Greenbaum in America

Greenbaum is the 11456th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Greenbaum surname appeared 2,750 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 Greenbaum.

We can also compare 2010 data for Greenbaum 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 Greenbaum

The surname Greenbaum is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, derived from the German words "grün" meaning green and "baum" meaning tree. It is believed to have originated in the late 16th or early 17th century in Central Europe, likely in areas such as modern-day Germany, Poland, or Austria.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Greenbaum can be found in the register of the Jewish community of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where a certain Jacob Greenbaum is mentioned in the year 1616. Other early records include Samuel Greenbaum, who was listed in the census of the Jewish community of Krakow, Poland, in 1670.

The name Greenbaum may have initially been used as a descriptive surname, possibly referring to someone who lived near a green or leafy tree, or perhaps someone who worked with trees or in the forestry industry. It is also possible that the name was adopted as a symbolic representation of the Tree of Life, a significant concept in Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.

In the 18th century, the surname Greenbaum began to appear more frequently in various regions of Central and Eastern Europe. Notable individuals from this period include Rabbi Eliezer Greenbaum (1708-1782), a prominent scholar and author from Krakow, Poland, and Shlomo Greenbaum (1744-1819), a respected rabbi and Talmudic scholar from Frankfurt, Germany.

As the Jewish diaspora spread across Europe and eventually to other parts of the world, the Greenbaum surname traveled with them. In the 19th century, there were Greenbaums living in various parts of Europe, as well as in the United States and other countries.

One notable individual from this period was Samuel Greenbaum (1854-1934), a successful businessman and philanthropist from New York City, who was involved in various charitable organizations and was a major supporter of Jewish causes.

In the 20th century, the Greenbaum name continued to be well-represented in various fields. Some notable individuals include:

1. Alfred Greenbaum (1901-1970), an American film producer and executive who worked for major studios such as Warner Bros. and MGM.

2. Moshe Greenbaum (1904-1986), an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset, who served as the Minister of the Interior from 1961 to 1965.

3. Edward S. Greenbaum (1923-2003), an American lawyer and civil rights activist, who played a significant role in the desegregation of public schools in the United States.

4. Victor Greenbaum (1930-2005), a British chemist and academic, known for his contributions to the field of spectroscopy and molecular structure analysis.

5. Judith Greenbaum (born 1943), an American anthropologist and professor, whose research focused on issues of gender, labor, and globalization in various parts of the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Greenbaum

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

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

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

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