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

Shafran, 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 Shafran surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shafran in America

Shafran is the 38050th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shafran surname appeared 583 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 Shafran.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shafran 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 Shafran

The surname Shafran is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, deriving from the Hebrew name "Shafrut" meaning "beautiful" or "beautiful one." It is believed to have originated in the 16th or 17th century among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, particularly in present-day Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shafran can be found in the Pinkas, a record book maintained by Jewish communities in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 17th and 18th centuries. The name is also mentioned in various rabbinical writings and Jewish manuscripts from that period.

In the late 18th century, the surname Shafran appears in the Revision Lists, which were census records compiled by the Russian Empire to document Jewish households and individuals for taxation purposes. These records provide valuable insights into the geographic distribution and variations in the spelling of the name, including variations such as Shafran, Shafran, and Shafrine.

One notable individual with the surname Shafran was Rabbi Yitzchak Shafran (1839-1919), a renowned Torah scholar and the founder of the Shafran Hasidic dynasty. He was born in the town of Rozhin, located in what was then the Russian Empire (now Ukraine).

Another prominent figure was Moshe Shafran (1858-1940), a Hebrew writer and educator who was born in the town of Lublin, Poland. He authored several works on Jewish history and literature and served as a teacher in various Jewish schools.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many individuals with the surname Shafran immigrated to the United States, Canada, and other countries, escaping persecution and seeking better opportunities. One such individual was David Shafran (1879-1957), a businessman and philanthropist who settled in New York City after emigrating from Russia.

Other notable individuals with the surname Shafran include Kalman Shafran (1909-1995), a Holocaust survivor and author who wrote about his experiences during World War II, and Avraham Shafran (1924-2007), a renowned rabbi and Talmudic scholar who served as the head of the Shafran Hasidic dynasty in Israel.

While the surname Shafran is not among the most common Jewish surnames, it has a rich history and has been carried by individuals who have made significant contributions to various fields, including religion, literature, and education.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shafran

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

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

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

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