2000
#2,179
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,299
First available Census row
Per 100,000 5.67
Uncommon Last name
Silverman
A Jewish occupational surname referring to a silversmith or someone who worked with silver.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 15,693 Americans carry the last name Silverman. That puts it at #2,582 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.58 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 21,841 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Silverman 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 Silverman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
16K
1 in 21,841
Census rank
#2,582
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
14K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 13,685 bearers of the surname Silverman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.58 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2582nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Silverman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Silverman
The surname Silverman is of Ashkenazic Jewish origin, derived from the German words "Silber" meaning silver, and "mann" meaning man. It likely originated in Germany or Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.
Silverman was originally an occupational name given to a silversmith or someone who worked with silver. The earliest recorded examples of the name can be found in German records from the 16th century, with variations such as Silbermann and Silberman.
In the 17th century, the name appears in Russian census records, indicating that Jewish families with the surname Silverman had settled in parts of the Russian Empire. Some variations found in these records include Silvermann and Zilberman.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was Abraham Silverman, a Jewish merchant who lived in Frankfurt, Germany in the late 16th century. Another notable figure was Mordechai Silverman, a renowned Talmudic scholar who lived in Krakow, Poland in the early 17th century.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, many Ashkenazi Jews with the surname Silverman immigrated to the United States and other parts of the world, fleeing persecution and seeking better opportunities. Some notable individuals from this period include:
1. Levi Silverman (1783-1856), a prominent businessman and philanthropist in New York City.
2. Sarah Silverman (1810-1892), a pioneer in the American Jewish education movement.
3. Joseph Silverman (1834-1901), a successful banker and real estate developer in San Francisco.
In the 20th century, the Silverman name continued to be prominent in various fields:
4. Sime Silverman (1909-1995), an influential American journalist and founder of the entertainment trade publication Variety.
5. George Silverman (1922-2007), a renowned physicist and professor at Harvard University.
The surname Silverman has a rich history dating back several centuries, reflecting the journeys and contributions of Jewish families across Europe and beyond.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Silverman
Among Census respondents with the surname Silverman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Silverman 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 Silverman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 12,619
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 459
- Two or more races2.2% · 306
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 163
- Black or African American1.0% · 131
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Silverman
Silverman 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
#2,463
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 14,636
-663 bearers (-4.3%)
Per 100,000 4.96
Rank movement Down 284 places
2020
#2,582
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 13,685
-951 bearers (-6.5%)
Per 100,000 4.58
Rank movement Down 119 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,179 | 15,299 | 5.67 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,463 | 14,636 | 4.96 | -663 bearers (-4.3%) | Down 284 places |
| 2020 | #2,582 | 13,685 | 4.58 | -951 bearers (-6.5%) | Down 119 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 Silverman 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 | #2,463 | #2,582 | -4.8% |
| Count | 14,636 | 13,685 | -6.5% |
| Per 100K | 4.96 | 4.58 | -7.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Silverman bearers went from 14,636 to 13,685 (-6.5% change). The surname moved down 119 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,463 to #2,582.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Silverman
FAQ
Silverman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Silverman?
Name Census estimates that about 15,693 living Americans carry the surname Silverman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 21,841 residents.
How common is Silverman?
Silverman ranks #2,582 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.58 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 13,685 people with the surname Silverman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (15,693), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.58 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.58 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Silverman.
Has Silverman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Silverman went from 14,636 recorded bearers to 13,685. That is a decrease of 951 (-6.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,463 to #2,582.
What does the Census say about the background of Silverman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Silverman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Silverman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (12,619 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Silverman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Silverman (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 Silverman mean?
A Jewish occupational surname referring to a silversmith or someone who worked with silver. 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 Silverman (4.58 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 are called Silverman?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Silverman on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.