# Bernstein (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/bernstein/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from German or Yiddish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 17,916 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,015 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 17,233 people |
| Change since 2000 | -0.3% (17,969 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɝnstaɪn/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Bernshteyn |

## Etymology

Borrowed from German Bernstein and Yiddish בערנשטיין (bernshteyn).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Bernstein in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.1% |
| Two or more races | 1.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Bernstein in the United States, Belarus and the United Kingdom.

## People named Bernstein

- Leonard Bernstein, American conductor and composer (1918–1990)
- Elmer Bernstein, American composer and conductor (1922-2004)
- Carl Bernstein, American journalist (born 1944)
- Daniel J. Bernstein, American German mathematician, cryptologist and programmer
- Mark Bernstein, Belarusian entrepreneur and Wikimedian (1965–)
- Jared Bernstein, American economist
- Jeremy Bernstein, American physicist
- Walter Bernstein, American screenwriter and film producer (1919-2021)
- Charles Bernstein, American writer
- Theresa Bernstein, American artist and writer (1890-2002)
- Herman Bernstein, American journalist, poet, novelist, playwright, translator, Jewish activist, and diplomat
- Dorothy Lewis Bernstein, American mathematician (1914–1988)

and 15 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Bornstein, Braunstein, Bronstein, Brownstein, Behrens, Berens, Berns, Beranek, Berenson, Barnes, Burns, Branch.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.