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

Mendelssohn, 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 Mendelssohn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mendelssohn in America

Mendelssohn is the 157234th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mendelssohn surname appeared 103 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 Mendelssohn.

The history of the last name Mendelssohn

The surname Mendelssohn originated in Germany during the 18th century. It is a compound surname derived from the Hebrew words "Mendel" and "Sohn," meaning "son of Mendel." Mendel was a common Jewish given name, and the addition of "Sohn" was a German practice to indicate a patronymic surname.

In the early 19th century, the Mendelssohn family was among the first Jewish families in Germany to adopt a permanent surname, as required by the Prussian Emancipation Edict of 1812. This law mandated that Jews take on fixed surnames, leading many to choose names influenced by their given names or professions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Mendelssohn surname can be found in the birth records of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), who was born in Dessau, Germany. He was a prominent figure of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement and a respected writer and philosopher.

The most famous bearer of the Mendelssohn surname was Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), a renowned German composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in Hamburg and is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the Romantic era, known for works such as the Violin Concerto in E minor and the Overture to "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Another notable Mendelssohn was Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1776-1835), a German-Jewish banker and philosopher who was the father of Felix Mendelssohn. He played a crucial role in the family's conversion to Protestantism and added the surname "Bartholdy" to their name, creating the combined surname Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

Kurt Mendelssohn (1859-1919) was a German chemist who made significant contributions to the field of organic chemistry and is remembered for his work on the Mendelssohn rearrangement reaction.

Walter Mendelssohn (1926-2021) was a German-American physicist and engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II and later became a prominent advocate for nuclear disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The Mendelssohn surname has a rich history rooted in Jewish and German heritage, and its bearers have made notable contributions across various fields, including philosophy, music, science, and finance.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mendelssohn

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

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 Mendelssohn 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.

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

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

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