2000
#132,259
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Osheroff
A surname of Jewish origin meaning "orphan" or "abandoned child".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 134 Americans carry the last name Osheroff. That puts it at #144,270 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,557,868 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Osheroff 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
134
1 in 2,557,868
Census rank
#144,270
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
117
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 117 bearers of the surname Osheroff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 144270th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Osheroff, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Osheroff
The surname Osheroff is of Russian Jewish origin, tracing its roots back to the 19th century in the Pale of Settlement, an area in Western Russia and modern-day Eastern Europe where Jewish people were permitted to live.
Osheroff is believed to be a variant of the Ashkenazi surname Asher, derived from the biblical Hebrew name "Asher," meaning "happy" or "blessed." The addition of the suffix "-off" or "-ov" was a common practice for Jewish surnames in Russia, indicating patronymic or familial descent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Osheroff surname can be found in the 1858 revision list of Jews living in the town of Slutsk, now in Belarus. This document mentions a family with the surname Osheroff residing in the area.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Russian Jews, including those with the surname Osheroff, emigrated from the Russian Empire to escape persecution and seek better opportunities in other parts of the world, particularly the United States and Western Europe.
Notable individuals with the surname Osheroff include:
1. Robert Osheroff (1931-2010), an American physicist who co-discovered the phenomenon of spin-transfer in solid-state physics, for which he shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics.
2. Douglas Osheroff (born 1945), an American physicist and Nobel laureate, son of Robert Osheroff. He was awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics for his co-discovery of superfluidity in helium-3.
3. Jed Osheroff (born 1964), an American film director and producer known for his work on documentaries such as "Kosher Cheese Pigs" and "Refugee Kids."
4. Isaac Osheroff (1887-1968), a Russian-born American writer and labor activist who co-founded the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper in New York City.
5. Avrom Osheroff (1908-1994), a Yiddish language poet and writer who was part of the Soviet Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee during World War II.
While the Osheroff surname has its origins in Russia, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly through immigration and the Jewish diaspora. The name continues to be associated with its Russian Jewish heritage and the historical experiences of those communities.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Osheroff
Among Census respondents with the surname Osheroff, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Osheroff 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 Osheroff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 4
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Osheroff
Osheroff 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
#135,593
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 124
+6 bearers (+5.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,334 places
2020
#144,270
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
-7 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,677 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #132,259 | 118 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #135,593 | 124 | 0.04 | +6 bearers (+5.1%) | Down 3,334 places |
| 2020 | #144,270 | 117 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 8,677 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 Osheroff 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 | #135,593 | #144,270 | -6.4% |
| Count | 124 | 117 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -2.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Osheroff bearers went from 124 to 117 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 8,677 positions in the national ranking, going from #135,593 to #144,270.
FAQ
Osheroff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Osheroff?
Name Census estimates that about 134 living Americans carry the surname Osheroff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,557,868 residents.
How common is Osheroff?
Osheroff ranks #144,270 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 117 people with the surname Osheroff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (134), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Osheroff.
Has Osheroff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Osheroff went from 124 recorded bearers to 117. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #135,593 to #144,270.
What does the Census say about the background of Osheroff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Osheroff, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Osheroff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (108 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Osheroff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Osheroff (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 Osheroff mean?
A surname of Jewish origin meaning "orphan" or "abandoned child". 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 Osheroff (0.04 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 Americans have the surname Osheroff?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.