2000
#7,593
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,038
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.50
Rare Last name
Steinman
An occupational surname referring to a stone worker, stone cutter, or one who dwells near a prominent stone.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,239 Americans carry the last name Steinman. That puts it at #8,546 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.24 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 80,857 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Steinman 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.
Bearers in the US
4.2K
1 in 80,857
Census rank
#8,546
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,697 bearers of the surname Steinman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.24 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8546th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Steinman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Steinman
The surname Steinman is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German words "stein" meaning stone and "mann" meaning man, likely referring to someone who worked with stone, such as a stonemason or quarryman.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various German regional records from the 13th and 14th centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hans Steinman, a stonemason from the town of Nuremberg, who lived in the late 14th century.
During the medieval period, the name Steinman was predominantly found in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, where there were numerous stonemasons and quarries. The name was also associated with the trade guilds of the time, as stonemasons often belonged to these organizations.
In the 16th century, the Steinman surname appeared in the records of the city of Augsburg, where a family of stonemasons and architects lived and worked. This family was responsible for the construction of several notable buildings in the city, including the Fuggerei, one of the oldest social housing complexes in the world.
One notable figure in the history of the Steinman name was Johann Steinman, a German architect and engineer who lived in the late 17th century. He was responsible for the design and construction of several churches and public buildings throughout Germany.
Another significant bearer of the name was Friedrich Steinman, a German-American civil engineer who lived from 1886 to 1964. He was renowned for his work on several major bridge projects, including the Thousand Islands Bridge and the Deer Isle Bridge in the United States.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Steinman name was also found among German immigrants to North America. One such individual was Jacob Steinman, who was born in Bavaria in 1835 and later emigrated to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania.
Throughout its history, the Steinman surname has been associated with the stonemason trade, architecture, and engineering, reflecting its origins as a occupational name derived from the German words for "stone" and "man".
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Steinman
Among Census respondents with the surname Steinman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Steinman 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 Steinman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.1% · 3,442
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 119
- Two or more races2.5% · 92
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 24
- Black or African American0.3% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Steinman
Steinman 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
#7,988
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,139
+101 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 1.40
Rank movement Down 395 places
2020
#8,546
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,697
-442 bearers (-10.7%)
Per 100,000 1.24
Rank movement Down 558 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,593 | 4,038 | 1.50 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,988 | 4,139 | 1.40 | +101 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 395 places |
| 2020 | #8,546 | 3,697 | 1.24 | -442 bearers (-10.7%) | Down 558 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 Steinman 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 | #7,988 | #8,546 | -7.0% |
| Count | 4,139 | 3,697 | -10.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.40 | 1.24 | -11.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Steinman bearers went from 4,139 to 3,697 (-10.7% change). The surname moved down 558 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,988 to #8,546.
FAQ
Steinman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Steinman?
Name Census estimates that about 4,239 living Americans carry the surname Steinman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 80,857 residents.
How common is Steinman?
Steinman ranks #8,546 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.24 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 3,697 people with the surname Steinman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,239), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.24 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.24 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 Steinman.
Has Steinman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Steinman went from 4,139 recorded bearers to 3,697. That is a decrease of 442 (-10.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,988 to #8,546.
What does the Census say about the background of Steinman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Steinman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Steinman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.1% (3,442 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Steinman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.1%), Hispanic (3.2%), Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Steinman (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 Steinman mean?
An occupational surname referring to a stone worker, stone cutter, or one who dwells near a prominent stone. 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 Steinman (1.24 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 common is the surname Steinman?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Steinman is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.