2000
#80,502
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 219
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.08
Very Rare Last name
Meiselman
A surname of German/Ashkenazi origin meaning "little master" or "boss".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 227 Americans carry the last name Meiselman. That puts it at #98,131 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.07 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,509,931 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Meiselman 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.
Bearers in the US
227
1 in 1,509,931
Census rank
#98,131
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
198
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 198 bearers of the surname Meiselman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.07 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 98131st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Meiselman, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Meiselman
The surname Meiselman has its origins in Germany, where it emerged during the Middle Ages, likely in the 12th or 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Middle High German words "meister" meaning "master" and "man" meaning "man," suggesting that the name may have been given to a skilled craftsman or tradesman.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the Judenschreinsbuch, a registry of Jewish families in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, dating back to the 14th century. The name appears with various spellings, such as Meisselmann and Meisselmannus, reflecting the fluidity of surname spellings during that time.
In the 16th century, the name Meiselman appeared in the records of the Jewish community in the town of Worms, a significant center of Jewish learning and culture in the Rhine region. This suggests that the name may have been associated with a family of scholars or rabbis.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name spread to other parts of Germany, as well as to neighboring countries like Poland and Hungary, where Jewish communities had established themselves. One notable figure from this period was Rabbi Meir Meiselman (1670-1745), a respected scholar and author who lived in Prague.
In the 19th century, as many Jews from Central and Eastern Europe emigrated to the United States, the name Meiselman began to appear in American records. One of the earliest instances was Samuel Meiselman (1824-1895), a merchant who settled in New York City in the mid-1800s.
Other notable individuals with the surname Meiselman include:
1. Yaakov Meiselman (1887-1976), a prominent Lithuanian-born American rabbi and Talmudic scholar.
2. Israel Meiselman (1909-1989), a Polish-born American businessman and philanthropist, who founded the Meiselman Family Foundation.
3. David Meiselman (1922-2003), an American physicist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, known for his contributions to the study of plasma physics.
4. Moshe Meiselman (1924-2010), a renowned American rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Yeshiva of Flatbush in New York.
5. Tzvi Meiselman (born 1945), an American Orthodox rabbi and author, best known for his works on Jewish philosophy and ethics.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Meiselman
Among Census respondents with the surname Meiselman, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Meiselman 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 Meiselman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.9% · 182
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 8
- Two or more races2.0% · 4
- Black or African American1.0% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Meiselman
Meiselman 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
#86,314
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 216
-3 bearers (-1.4%)
Per 100,000 0.07
Rank movement Down 5,812 places
2020
#98,131
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 198
-18 bearers (-8.3%)
Per 100,000 0.07
Rank movement Down 11,817 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #80,502 | 219 | 0.08 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #86,314 | 216 | 0.07 | -3 bearers (-1.4%) | Down 5,812 places |
| 2020 | #98,131 | 198 | 0.07 | -18 bearers (-8.3%) | Down 11,817 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 Meiselman 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 | #86,314 | #98,131 | -13.7% |
| Count | 216 | 198 | -8.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.07 | 0.07 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Meiselman bearers went from 216 to 198 (-8.3% change). The surname moved down 11,817 positions in the national ranking, going from #86,314 to #98,131.
FAQ
Meiselman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Meiselman?
Name Census estimates that about 227 living Americans carry the surname Meiselman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,509,931 residents.
How common is Meiselman?
Meiselman ranks #98,131 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.07 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 198 people with the surname Meiselman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (227), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.07 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.07 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Meiselman.
Has Meiselman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Meiselman went from 216 recorded bearers to 198. That is a decrease of 18 (-8.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #86,314 to #98,131.
What does the Census say about the background of Meiselman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Meiselman, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.0%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Meiselman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (182 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Meiselman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.9%), Hispanic (4.0%), Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Meiselman (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 Meiselman mean?
A surname of German/Ashkenazi origin meaning "little master" or "boss". 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 Meiselman (0.07 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 have the last name Meiselman?
Want to know how common the surname Meiselman is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.