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

Kushner, 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 Kushner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kushner in America

Kushner is the 7680th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kushner surname appeared 4,323 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kushner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kushner 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 Kushner

The surname Kushner is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, derived from the Hebrew word "hakosher" meaning "proper" or "legitimate." It is believed to have originated in the late 18th or early 19th century in Eastern Europe, particularly in areas such as Poland, Russia, and Lithuania.

The name Kushner is thought to have been used as a descriptive surname, referring to someone who followed the kosher dietary laws or led a life in accordance with Jewish religious traditions. It may have also been used as an occupational surname for individuals involved in the supervision or preparation of kosher foods.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kushner can be found in the records of the Jewish community in Vilnius, Lithuania, where a family by that name is mentioned in the late 18th century. Another early reference is found in the records of the Jewish community in Bialystok, Poland, where a Kushner family is documented in the early 19th century.

Notable individuals with the surname Kushner include Yitzchok Kushner (1815-1898), a renowned Talmudic scholar and author from Vilnius, and Sholem Kushner (1858-1938), a prominent Hasidic rabbi and leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Russia.

In the 20th century, some notable Kushners include Leib Kushner (1892-1972), a Yiddish writer and poet from Poland, and Harold Kushner (born 1935), an American rabbi and author best known for his book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."

Rachel Kushner (born 1968) is an American novelist and essayist, and Jared Kushner (born 1981) is an American businessman and former senior advisor to his father-in-law, former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Kushner surname has been carried by Jewish families across various parts of Europe and later to the United States and other countries, reflecting the historical migrations and diaspora of Ashkenazi Jews.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kushner

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

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

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

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