# Frankenstein (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/frankenstein/  
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.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 332 |
| US rank (2010) | 60,636 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 929,956 people |
| Change since 2000 | -3.8% (345 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɹæŋ.kən.staɪn/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From German Frankenstein, various places named for Franken (“Franks, Frankish”) + Stein (“stone”). The use of referencing mad scientists derives from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, where Victor Frankenstein assembles a man from pieces of various corpses and brings him to life with electricity. Use of the reference to the monster itself is an ellipsis of the earlier Frankenstein's monster, with the monster's usual modern appearance derived from Boris Karloff's performance in the 1931 film Frankenstein.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Frankenstein 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) | 0.0% |
| Two or more races | 3.0% |

## Similar surnames

Franklin, Francis, Frank, Franks, France, Franz, Frankel, Franke, Franzen, Franck, Franko, Frances.

## 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.