How common is the surname Birnbaum?

3,211 people in the United States had the surname Birnbaum in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 96,152 Americans. It ranked 10,030th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Birnbaum?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Birnbaum identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Birnbaum?

Steve Birnbaum, American soccer player (born 1991), followed by Nathan Birnbaum.

Where is the surname Birnbaum most common?

Wikidata records people named Birnbaum in the United States, Austria–Hungary and Second Polish Republic and 1 other country.

Is the surname Birnbaum getting more or less common?

More common. 3,160 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,211 in 2010, up 1.6%.

The surname Birnbaum

A German surname, carried by 3,211 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex B651

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Birnbaum is more common than 93.8% of them.

Origin

German origin

Borrowed from German Birnbaum, a Jewish Ashkenazi surname.

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,211 people named Birnbaum in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 96,152 Americans. That is up 1.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,160.

#10,030

rank among US surnames

3,211

people in 2010

1.1

per 100,000 Americans

+1.6%

change since 2000 (was #9,436)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#10,023	Baynes	3,215	96,033
#10,026	Ullman	3,213	96,093
#10,029	Trotman	3,212	96,123
#10,030	Copper	3,211	96,152
#10,034	Backman	3,210	96,182
#10,036	Eccles	3,209	96,212

Who is named Birnbaum

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

95% of people named Birnbaum identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.1%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Birnbaums

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Steve Birnbaum
American soccer player (born 1991)
Nathan Birnbaum
Austrian philosopher (1864-1937)
Dara Birnbaum
American video and installation artist (1946-2025)
Roger Birnbaum
American film producer, born 1950
Z. W. Birnbaum
American statistician (1903–2000)
Solomon Birnbaum
Austrian linguist (1891–1989)
Karl Birnbaum
American psychiatrist (1878–1950)
Norman Birnbaum
American sociologist (1926-2019)
Philip Birnbaum
American translator and writer (1904–1988)
George Burns
American comedian, actor, writer and singer (1896–1996)

Notable Birnbaums come mostly from the United States (7), Austria–Hungary (1) and Second Polish Republic (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Berenbaum
Birenbaum

Birnbaum has the Soundex code B651, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B651.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Birnbaum come from?: Borrowed from German Birnbaum, a Jewish Ashkenazi surname.
How common is the surname Birnbaum?: 3,211 people in the United States had the surname Birnbaum in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 96,152 Americans. It ranked 10,030th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Birnbaum?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Birnbaum identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Birnbaum?: Steve Birnbaum, American soccer player (born 1991), followed by Nathan Birnbaum.
Where is the surname Birnbaum most common?: Wikidata records people named Birnbaum in the United States, Austria–Hungary and Second Polish Republic and 1 other country.
Is the surname Birnbaum getting more or less common?: More common. 3,160 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,211 in 2010, up 1.6%.
What are other spellings of Birnbaum?: Berenbaum and Birenbaum.