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

Kofman, 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 Kofman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kofman in America

Kofman is the 36525th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kofman surname appeared 612 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 Kofman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kofman 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 Kofman

The surname Kofman is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, derived from the German word "Kaufmann" meaning "merchant" or "trader". It emerged as an occupational surname in the late Middle Ages, likely around the 13th or 14th century.

This surname is believed to have originated in the German-speaking regions of central and eastern Europe, where Jewish communities had settled and established themselves as merchants and traders. The earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in historical documents from Germany, Poland, and other neighboring countries.

One of the earliest known references to the surname Kofman appears in a 14th-century tax record from the city of Frankfurt, where a Jewish merchant named Jacob Kofman is listed as a taxpayer. This suggests that the name was already in use and associated with the mercantile profession at that time.

In the 16th century, a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi named Moses Kofman lived in the Polish city of Krakow. He was a respected figure in the local Jewish community and authored several works on Jewish law and philosophy.

Another notable bearer of the surname was Isaac Kofman, a successful merchant and philanthropist who lived in Amsterdam in the 17th century. He was known for his charitable contributions to various Jewish institutions and causes.

During the 18th century, the Kofman surname appears to have spread more widely across eastern and central Europe, with families bearing this name being found in communities throughout Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. One notable figure from this period was Yehuda Leib Kofman, a respected rabbi and Talmudic scholar who lived in the city of Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in the late 18th century.

In the 19th century, a number of Kofman families emigrated from Europe to various parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and South Africa. One prominent individual from this era was Max Kofman, a successful businessman and philanthropist who settled in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the late 19th century and made significant contributions to the local Jewish community.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kofman

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

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

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

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