Hyman last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Hyman

A Jewish occupational surname derived from the Hebrew word "chaim," meaning "life," and likely referring to a midwife or doctor.

Hyman, 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 Hyman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hyman in America

Hyman is the 3158th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hyman surname appeared 11,436 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Hyman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hyman 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 3158 2910 8.17%
Count 11,436 11,354 0.72%
Proportion per 100k 3.88 4.21 -8.16%

The history of the last name Hyman

The surname Hyman is of Jewish origin, derived from the Hebrew given name Chaim, meaning "life." It first emerged in the Middle Ages, particularly in Eastern European regions like Poland, Russia, and parts of Germany, where large Jewish communities existed.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hyman can be found in the Kehillat Shem Tov, a 16th-century collection of Jewish records from Prague. It mentions a Rabbi Hyman ben Yitzchak, who lived in the early 1500s.

The name Hyman was often written as Hayman or Heiman in old records, reflecting variations in spelling and pronunciation across different regions. In some areas, it was also associated with place names like Heymann or Heyman, suggesting a possible connection to a specific town or village.

During the Middle Ages, the name Hyman was occasionally recorded in tax rolls and census records, though it was not as common as some other Jewish surnames of the time. One notable example is Hyman of Würzburg, a 13th-century Jewish scholar and theologian from the city of Würzburg in modern-day Germany.

As Jewish communities migrated westward, the name Hyman spread to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the United States is Samuel Hyman, a merchant who arrived in New York from England in the late 17th century.

Other historical figures bearing the surname Hyman include:

  1. Sir Benjamin Hyman (1766-1838), a British merchant and philanthropist who supported various educational and charitable causes.
  2. Judah Hyman (1854-1926), a Russian-born American businessman and real estate developer in New York City.
  3. Libby Hyman (1888-1973), an American zoologist and author of several influential textbooks on invertebrate zoology.
  4. Stanley Edgar Hyman (1919-1970), an American literary critic and author known for his work on literary naturalism and modernism.
  5. Paul D. Hyman (1928-2011), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Jockey International clothing company.

While the surname Hyman has its roots in Jewish culture and tradition, it has become more widespread and can be found among people of various backgrounds and ethnicities across the globe.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hyman

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

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 Hyman was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 61.91% 7,080
Non-Hispanic Black Only 32.68% 3,737
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.53% 61
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.28% 32
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.72% 197
Hispanic Origin 2.88% 329

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 Hyman has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 61.91% 66.54% -7.21%
Black 32.68% 30.10% 8.22%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.53% 0.34% 43.68%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.28% 0.15% 60.47%
Two or More Races 1.72% 1.36% 23.38%
Hispanic 2.88% 1.51% 62.41%

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

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

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Hyman last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 5, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/hyman-surname-popularity/.

"Hyman last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/hyman-surname-popularity/. Accessed 5 October, 2024

Hyman last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/hyman-surname-popularity/.

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