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

Shulman, 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 Shulman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Shulman in America

Shulman is the 8076th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Shulman surname appeared 4,104 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Shulman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Shulman 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 Shulman

The surname Shulman is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, deriving from the Yiddish term "shul," which translates to "synagogue" or "school." The name first emerged in the 14th century in the regions of modern-day Germany and Poland, where Jewish communities had established themselves.

In the early days, the name Shulman likely referred to individuals who worked or held positions within synagogues or religious schools. It could have been used to identify rabbis, teachers, or other officials associated with these institutions. Over time, the name became hereditary, passing down from generation to generation.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Shulman name can be found in the Memorbuch, a record book maintained by the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In this document, dated 1349, a man named Abraham Shulman is mentioned as having donated funds to the local synagogue.

During the Middle Ages, the name also appeared in various legal documents and tax records across Central and Eastern Europe. For instance, in the 16th century, a merchant named Isaac Shulman is mentioned in the archives of the city of Krakow, Poland.

As the Jewish diaspora spread across Europe and beyond, the Shulman name traveled with them. In the 18th century, a prominent rabbi and scholar named Yitzchak Shulman (1725-1802) lived in Vilna, Lithuania, and authored several influential works on Jewish law and philosophy.

In the 19th century, the Shulman name gained further prominence with the birth of Solomon Shulman (1832-1904), a Russian-born Jewish banker and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the establishment of educational institutions in Odessa and St. Petersburg.

Another notable figure was David Shulman (1864-1935), a Polish-born American businessman and real estate developer who played a crucial role in the early development of Los Angeles, California.

During the 20th century, the Shulman name continued to be carried by individuals across various fields, including the American architect and photographer Julius Shulman (1910-2009), known for his iconic images of modernist architecture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Shulman

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

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

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

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