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

Hirschfeld, 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 Hirschfeld surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hirschfeld in America

Hirschfeld is the 20037th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hirschfeld surname appeared 1,335 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 Hirschfeld.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hirschfeld 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 Hirschfeld

The surname Hirschfeld is of German origin, derived from the medieval German words "Hirsch" meaning deer and "Feld" meaning field, indicating that the name likely originated as a descriptive name for someone who lived near a field frequented by deer or associated with hunting deer.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Hirschfeld date back to the 13th century in various regions of present-day Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and Prussia. It is believed that the name may have originated from the place name Hirschfeld, a town located in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.

In the 14th century, the name Hirschfeld appears in several historical records and documents, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of official documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg. One notable mention is of a certain Henricus Hirschfeld, a nobleman from the region of Thuringia, who is mentioned in a deed dated 1367.

Over the centuries, the surname Hirschfeld has been associated with several notable individuals, including Otto Hirschfeld (1843-1922), a German classical scholar and epigraphist who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Roman inscriptions and epigraphy. Another notable figure was Georg Hirschfeld (1873-1939), a German jurist and politician who served as the Minister of the Interior in the Weimar Republic from 1923 to 1928.

In the realm of literature, the name Hirschfeld is associated with Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), a German physician and sexologist who was a pioneering advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and founded the first LGBTQ+ rights organization, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, in 1897.

The surname Hirschfeld also gained prominence in the field of art and architecture with the work of Ferdinand Hirschfeld (1876-1944), a German architect and urban planner who was influential in the development of the garden city movement and designed several notable housing projects in Berlin and its surrounding areas.

Throughout history, the surname Hirschfeld has been present across various regions of Germany and has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions, reflecting the rich cultural heritage and historical significance of this Germanic name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hirschfeld

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

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

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

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