2000
#7,212
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,271
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.58
Rare Last name
Margolis
A Jewish surname derived from the given name Margalit, meaning "pearl" in Hebrew.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,133 Americans carry the last name Margolis. That puts it at #8,735 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.21 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 82,931 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Margolis 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Margolis with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.1K
1 in 82,931
Census rank
#8,735
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,604 bearers of the surname Margolis in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.21 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8735th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Margolis, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Margolis
The surname Margolis is of Jewish origin, derived from the Hebrew male given name Margaliot, which means "pearl." This name likely originated in the Mediterranean region during ancient times.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Margolis can be found in Jewish communities across Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland and Russia, dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. These early records often include variations in spelling, such as Margolis, Margulies, and Margulis.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Margolis was Rabbi Moshe Margolis, who lived in Poland in the late 16th century. He was a prominent Jewish scholar and author of several religious texts.
In the 18th century, the name Margolis appeared in various records and manuscripts in Lithuania. Notable individuals from this time period include Yitzhak Margolis, a renowned Talmudic scholar born in Vilnius in 1742, and his son, Shmuel Margolis, who was a rabbi and author born in 1765.
As Jewish communities emigrated from Eastern Europe to other parts of the world, the surname Margolis spread to different countries. In the 19th century, Jacob Margolis, a Russian-born American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Margolis Brothers Company in New York City.
Another notable figure with the surname Margolis was Max Margolis, a renowned Jewish scholar and professor of Semitic languages who lived from 1866 to 1932. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania and made significant contributions to the field of biblical studies.
Throughout its history, the surname Margolis has been associated with various place names and localities where Jewish communities resided, such as the town of Marghiloman in present-day Moldova, which may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the name in some cases.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Margolis
Among Census respondents with the surname Margolis, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Margolis 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 Margolis surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.8% · 3,308
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 155
- Two or more races2.1% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 45
- Black or African American0.4% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Margolis
Margolis 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
#7,912
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,181
-90 bearers (-2.1%)
Per 100,000 1.42
Rank movement Down 700 places
2020
#8,735
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,604
-577 bearers (-13.8%)
Per 100,000 1.21
Rank movement Down 823 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,212 | 4,271 | 1.58 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,912 | 4,181 | 1.42 | -90 bearers (-2.1%) | Down 700 places |
| 2020 | #8,735 | 3,604 | 1.21 | -577 bearers (-13.8%) | Down 823 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 Margolis 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 | #7,912 | #8,735 | -10.4% |
| Count | 4,181 | 3,604 | -13.8% |
| Per 100K | 1.42 | 1.21 | -15.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Margolis bearers went from 4,181 to 3,604 (-13.8% change). The surname moved down 823 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,912 to #8,735.
FAQ
Margolis surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Margolis?
Name Census estimates that about 4,133 living Americans carry the surname Margolis. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 82,931 residents.
How common is Margolis?
Margolis ranks #8,735 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.21 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,604 people with the surname Margolis. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,133), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.21 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.21 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Margolis.
Has Margolis become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Margolis went from 4,181 recorded bearers to 3,604. That is a decrease of 577 (-13.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,912 to #8,735.
What does the Census say about the background of Margolis?
Among Census respondents with the surname Margolis, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Margolis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (3,308 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Margolis appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.8%), Hispanic (4.3%), Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Margolis (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 Margolis mean?
A Jewish surname derived from the given name Margalit, meaning "pearl" in Hebrew. 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 Margolis (1.21 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 Margolis?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.