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

Sfeir, 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 Sfeir surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sfeir in America

Sfeir is the 72568th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sfeir surname appeared 268 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 Sfeir.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sfeir to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Sfeir

The surname SFEIR is of Lebanese origin, originating in the area around Beirut and the surrounding mountains in the late 18th century. It is derived from the Arabic word "sfayr" meaning "little bird" or "sparrow". The name likely referred to someone with a connection to birds, perhaps a bird keeper or breeder.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SFEIR appears in a French manuscript from 1794, referring to a Lebanese merchant named Youssef SFEIR operating in Marseille. This suggests the name had begun spreading from its origins in Lebanon by the late 1700s.

In the 19th century, the name started appearing in Ottoman Empire records for the region of modern-day Lebanon. An 1837 property deed mentions a landowner named Khalil SFEIR in the village of Bhamdoun, near Beirut.

The earliest known bearer of the name was likely Boutros SFEIR, born around 1760 in Deir el-Qamar, Lebanon. He fought in the 1825 Lebanese revolt against Ottoman rule and was later exiled briefly to Cyprus.

Other notable historical figures with the SFEIR surname include Sarkis SFEIR (1856-1924), a Lebanese poet and translator who helped revive literary Arabic in Lebanon. His grandson Georges SFEIR (1905-1997) was a prominent lawyer and diplomat who served as Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations.

Michel SFEIR (1854-1920) was a Maronite Catholic priest and scholar who catalogued thousands of ancient Arabic and Syriac manuscripts found in Lebanese monasteries. His great-nephew Mgr Maximos SFEIR (1890-1976) was elected Patriarch of the Maronite Church in 1958.

The influential 20th century philosopher Neemeh SFEIR (1917-1995) authored works examining Arab and Islamic thought. His cousin Nasri SFEIR (1913-1985) was a prominent lawyer and one of the drafters of Lebanon's post-independence constitution in the 1940s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sfeir

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

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 Sfeir 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.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Sfeir has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

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

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

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