2000
#13,985
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,980
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.73
Rare Last name
Rabin
A Jewish occupational surname referring to a rabbi or teacher of Jewish law and tradition.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,157 Americans carry the last name Rabin. That puts it at #15,061 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 158,903 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rabin 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 Rabin with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.2K
1 in 158,903
Census rank
#15,061
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,881 bearers of the surname Rabin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15061st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rabin, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rabin
The surname Rabin originated in the Jewish communities of Eastern and Central Europe, particularly in areas that are now part of Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "rav," meaning "great" or "teacher," and often referred to a respected rabbi or scholar.
The earliest recorded instances of the Rabin surname can be traced back to the 16th and 17th centuries, when Jewish communities in these regions were establishing themselves and keeping records of births, marriages, and deaths. Some of the earliest known bearers of the name include Rabbi Yitzchak Rabin, a prominent scholar in Krakow, Poland, in the late 16th century, and Rabbi Moshe Rabin, a respected rabbi in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in the early 17th century.
Over the centuries, the Rabin surname has been associated with a number of notable figures in Jewish history and culture. One of the most famous was Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995), an Israeli military leader and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Israel from 1974 to 1977 and again from 1992 until his assassination in 1995. He played a pivotal role in the Oslo Accords, a landmark peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
Another prominent bearer of the Rabin surname was Chaim Rabin (1915-1996), a renowned Israeli author and literary critic who wrote extensively on Hebrew literature and Jewish culture. He was a professor of Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize in 1984.
In the field of science, Solomon Rabin (1919-2003) was a distinguished American mathematician and computer scientist who made significant contributions to the fields of cryptography and coding theory. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1976.
Historically, the Rabin surname has also been associated with various places and regions where Jewish communities thrived. For example, the town of Rabin (or Rabyn) in Belarus was once home to a significant Jewish population, and the name may have originated or been influenced by this location.
It is worth noting that while the Rabin surname is primarily associated with Jewish communities in Eastern and Central Europe, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora, with bearers of the name now found in countries such as Israel, the United States, and various European nations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rabin
Among Census respondents with the surname Rabin, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Rabin 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 Rabin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.7% · 1,724
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 78
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 37
- Two or more races1.3% · 25
- Black or African American0.9% · 17
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rabin
Rabin 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
#13,967
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,159
+179 bearers (+9.0%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Up 18 places
2020
#15,061
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,881
-278 bearers (-12.9%)
Per 100,000 0.63
Rank movement Down 1,094 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,985 | 1,980 | 0.73 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,967 | 2,159 | 0.73 | +179 bearers (+9.0%) | Up 18 places |
| 2020 | #15,061 | 1,881 | 0.63 | -278 bearers (-12.9%) | Down 1,094 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 Rabin 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 | #13,967 | #15,061 | -7.8% |
| Count | 2,159 | 1,881 | -12.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.73 | 0.63 | -13.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rabin bearers went from 2,159 to 1,881 (-12.9% change). The surname moved down 1,094 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,967 to #15,061.
FAQ
Rabin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rabin?
Name Census estimates that about 2,157 living Americans carry the surname Rabin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 158,903 residents.
How common is Rabin?
Rabin ranks #15,061 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.63 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 1,881 people with the surname Rabin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,157), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.63 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 Rabin.
Has Rabin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rabin went from 2,159 recorded bearers to 1,881. That is a decrease of 278 (-12.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,967 to #15,061.
What does the Census say about the background of Rabin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rabin, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Rabin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (1,724 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rabin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.7%), Hispanic (4.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Rabin (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 Rabin mean?
A Jewish occupational surname referring to a rabbi or teacher of Jewish law and tradition. 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 Rabin (0.63 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 surname Rabin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.