2000
#134,037
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Hurewitz
A surname derived from a place name, possibly relating to a location in Eastern Europe.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 130 Americans carry the last name Hurewitz. That puts it at #147,221 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,636,572 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hurewitz 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
130
1 in 2,636,572
Census rank
#147,221
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
113
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 113 bearers of the surname Hurewitz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147221st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurewitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hurewitz
The surname Hurewitz originates from the Ashkenazi Jewish community in Poland and Belarus during the 18th century. It is believed to be derived from the Yiddish word "hor" or "hur," meaning "deaf" or "hard of hearing," suggesting that the name may have been initially given as a descriptive nickname to someone with a hearing impairment.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Hurewitz can be traced back to the late 1700s in various Jewish communities across Eastern Europe. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Itzik Hurewitz, a merchant from the town of Pinsk (now in Belarus), who lived in the late 18th century.
During the 19th century, the Hurewitz family began to spread across different regions, with some members settling in larger cities like Warsaw and Vilnius. In the 1870s, a notable figure named Mordechai Hurewitz established a successful textile business in Lodz, Poland, and became a prominent member of the local Jewish community.
As the Jewish population faced increasing persecution and discrimination in Eastern Europe, many Hurewitz families sought refuge in other parts of the world, particularly in the United States and Western Europe. One of the earliest recorded Hurewitz immigrants to the United States was Chaim Hurewitz, who arrived in New York City from Bialystok (now in Poland) in the late 1880s.
Another notable individual with the Hurewitz surname was Isaac Hurewitz, a Polish-born writer and journalist who lived from 1886 to 1955. He was actively involved in the Zionist movement and advocated for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
In the 20th century, the Hurewitz name continued to spread across various countries, with descendants of the original Eastern European families settling in places like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Israel. One prominent figure was Shmuel Hurewitz, an Israeli historian and author who specialized in the study of the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel) and was born in 1903 in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania).
While the Hurewitz surname may have originated from a descriptive nickname related to hearing impairment, it has since become a distinctive name within the Ashkenazi Jewish diaspora, carrying a rich history and cultural significance spanning multiple generations and geographical locations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hurewitz
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurewitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Hurewitz 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 Hurewitz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.9% · 105
- Two or more races4.4% · 5
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hurewitz
Hurewitz 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
#149,395
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
-6 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 15,358 places
2020
#147,221
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
+3 bearers (+2.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,174 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #134,037 | 116 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #149,395 | 110 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 15,358 places |
| 2020 | #147,221 | 113 | 0.04 | +3 bearers (+2.7%) | Up 2,174 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 Hurewitz 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 | #149,395 | #147,221 | 1.5% |
| Count | 110 | 113 | 2.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hurewitz bearers went from 110 to 113 (+2.7% change). The surname moved up 2,174 positions in the national ranking, going from #149,395 to #147,221.
FAQ
Hurewitz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hurewitz?
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the surname Hurewitz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,636,572 residents.
How common is Hurewitz?
Hurewitz ranks #147,221 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 113 people with the surname Hurewitz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (130), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Hurewitz.
Has Hurewitz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hurewitz went from 110 recorded bearers to 113. That is an increase of 3 (+2.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #149,395 to #147,221.
What does the Census say about the background of Hurewitz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hurewitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Hurewitz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.9% (105 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hurewitz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.9%), Two or More Races (4.4%), Black (0.9%). 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 Hurewitz (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 Hurewitz mean?
A surname derived from a place name, possibly relating to a location in Eastern Europe. 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 Hurewitz (0.04 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 share the surname Hurewitz?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.