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

Lefkowitz, 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 Lefkowitz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lefkowitz in America

Lefkowitz is the 10274th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lefkowitz surname appeared 3,138 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 Lefkowitz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lefkowitz 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 Lefkowitz

The surname Lefkowitz has its origins in Eastern Europe, specifically in the areas that are now parts of modern-day Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is a Jewish surname that emerged during the Middle Ages, likely between the 13th and 15th centuries.

Lefkowitz is derived from the Yiddish word "levke," which means "lion." This name was often given to children as a way of bestowing upon them the strength and courage associated with the lion. The suffix "-itz" or "-witz" is a common ending for many Eastern European surnames, indicating a patronymic or a place of origin.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lefkowitz can be found in the Metrical Book of the Great Synagogue of Vilna, a historical document from the late 16th century. This suggests that the name was already in use among Jewish communities in the region during that time period.

In the 17th century, a reference to a certain Moshe Lefkowitz appears in the records of the Jewish community in Lublin, Poland. This Moshe Lefkowitz was likely a prominent figure or a respected member of the community at that time.

During the 18th century, the name Lefkowitz can be found in various rabbinical writings and Jewish scholarly works, indicating the presence of individuals with this surname among the intellectual and religious circles of the era.

One notable individual with the surname Lefkowitz was Rabbi Yitzchak Lefkowitz, who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was a renowned Talmudic scholar and served as the Rabbi of Vilna, one of the most important Jewish communities in Eastern Europe at the time.

Another prominent figure was Shmuel Lefkowitz, a 19th-century Jewish writer and journalist from Odessa, Ukraine. He was known for his contributions to Yiddish literature and his works exploring Jewish culture and identity.

In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the surname Lefkowitz was Louis Lefkowitz, an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of New York from 1957 to 1978. He was born in 1904 and passed away in 1996.

Other notable individuals with the surname Lefkowitz include David Lefkowitz, a 20th-century American composer and music educator, and Rabbi Moshe Lefkowitz, a prominent contemporary rabbi and Talmudic scholar based in Israel.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lefkowitz

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

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

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

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