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

Grunfeld, 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 Grunfeld surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Grunfeld in America

Grunfeld is the 40371st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Grunfeld surname appeared 542 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 Grunfeld.

We can also compare 2010 data for Grunfeld 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 Grunfeld

The surname Grunfeld has its origins in Germany and Austria, where it first emerged in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German words "grün" meaning "green" and "feld" meaning "field," suggesting that the name may have referred to someone who lived near a green field or meadow.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a 14th-century document from the town of Nuremberg, where a certain Hans Grunfeld is mentioned. This suggests that the name was already in use by at least the 1300s in southern Germany.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Grunfeld name appears in various records from across German-speaking regions, including church registers, tax rolls, and guild documents. For example, a Johannes Grunfeld is recorded as a member of the weavers' guild in Augsburg in 1587.

In the 18th century, the name Grunfeld began to spread more widely across Europe, with some bearers of the name migrating to other countries. One notable figure from this period was Heinrich Grunfeld (1711-1783), a German composer and organist who worked in the court of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.

As the 19th century dawned, the Grunfeld name continued to be found in various parts of central Europe. One prominent individual was Alfred Grunfeld (1852-1924), an Austrian chess master and writer who authored several books on the game.

Another notable figure was the German-Jewish philosopher and critic Walter Grunfeld (1878-1951), who fled Nazi persecution and settled in the United States, where he taught at several universities until his death.

Other historical figures with the Grunfeld surname include the Austrian pianist and composer Alfred Grunfeld (1852-1924), the German-Jewish writer and translator Ernst Grunfeld (1900-1975), and the Hungarian-born American chess grandmaster Ernest Grunfeld (1923-2020), whose opening variation bears his name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Grunfeld

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

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

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

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