Explore the Family Name Gelman

The meaning of Gelman

Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Geller 4 and 5. Some characteristic forenames: Jewish Meyer, Genya, Hyman, Rina, Yakov, Aba, Arieh, Aron, Avram, Chaim. Russian Boris, Mikhail, Yefim, Igor, Iosif, Lev, Aleksandr, Inessa, Anatoly, Arkagy, Efim, Etel.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Gelman in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Gelman has seen a significant increase over a decade from 2000 to 2010. The rank of the surname improved by 6.25%, moving up from 13,291 in 2000 to 12,460 in 2010. In terms of count, the number of people with the Gelman surname rose by 18.34% to reach 2,491 individuals in 2010, up from 2,105 in 2000. This growth also reflects in the proportion per 100,000 with a 7.69% increase, indicating that for every 100,000 people, approximately 0.84 had the surname Gelman in 2010.

20002010Change
Rank#13,291#12,4606.25%
Count2,1052,49118.34%
Proportion per 100k0.780.847.69%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gelman

When examining the ethnic identity associated with the surname Gelman, considerable shifts were observed between 2000 and 2010, as indicated by the Decennial U.S. Census data. There was a significant increase in the percentage of Hispanic individuals bearing this surname, rising by 79.93% to reach 5.38%. Additionally, those identifying with two or more ethnicities under this surname had a slight increase of 20.00%, making it 1.08%. On the other hand, the White population with this surname experienced a minor decrease of 2.34% to stand at 92.09%. It's important to note that the proportion of Asians/Pacific Islanders with this surname dropped to zero in 2010, while there was a new inclusion of Black individuals accounting for 0.84%. The American Indian and Alaskan Native population remained static with no data recorded.

20002010Change
White94.3%92.09%-2.34%
Hispanic2.99%5.38%79.93%
Two or More Races0.9%1.08%20%
Black0%0.84%0%
Asian/Pacific Islander0.9%0%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%

Gelman ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Gelman is Ashkenazi Jewish, which comprises 72.4% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are Eastern European (8.6%) and British & Irish (6.8%). Additional ancestries include French & German, Italian, Greek & Balkan, Iranian, Caucasian & Mesopotamian, and Spanish & Portuguese.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
Ashkenazi Jewish72.4%
Eastern European8.6%
British & Irish6.8%
Other12.2%
Gelman

Possible origins of the surname Gelman

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Gelman have recent ancestry locations spanning a few countries, mostly in Poland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland20.00%
Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland20.00%
Masovian Voivodeship, Poland18.30%
Lancashire, United Kingdom16.70%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom16.70%

What Gelman haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Gelman is O-F2415, which is predominantly found among people with East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry. Haplogroup O-F2415 is descended from haplogroup O-M1359. Other common haplogroups include E-M183 and O-F2859, which are predominantly found among people with European and East Asian & Indigenous American ancestry.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Gelman surname are: K1a1b1a, H1, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

gelmanPaternal Haplogroup Origins O-M1359
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to the Cham

One of the many populations harboring members of haplogroup O1b1a1a1a1 is the Cham ethnic group, a group of people who speak Austronesian languages in Mainland Southeast Asia. Austronesian languages make up a language family that is extremely large and widespread, comprising over 350 million people on islands such as Madagascar, Easter Island, and many others. However, Austronesian languages are less common on mainland Asia, with a notable exception being the Chamic language. Research suggests that ancestors of the Cham people migrated from Southeast Asian islands to the mainland around the year 500 BCE, and that early Cham populations quickly began mixing with indigenous southern Vietnamese populations. As a result, the Chamic language now has words that were borrowed from languages spoken by indigenous Vietnamese people. It is likely that an ancestral Kinh population was one of the populations that mixed with the Cham people shortly after their migration to mainland Asia.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to the nomadic Tuareg of the Sahara

Though haplogroup H1 rarely reaches high frequencies beyond western Europe, over 60% of eastern Tuareg in Libya belong to haplogroup H1. The Tuareg call themselves the Imazghan, meaning “free people.” They are an isolated, semi-nomadic people who inhabit the West-Central Sahara and are known today for a distinctive dark blue turban worn by the men, and for their long history as gatekeepers of the desert.How did women carrying H1 make it all the way from western Europe to this isolated community? They likely migrated from Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar into Morocco after the Last Ice Age, where they were assimilated into the Berbers of the Mediterranean coast. Then, about 5,000 years ago, the Sahara shifted from a period of relative habitable conditions to its dramatically arid desert environment. This shift may have caused migrations throughout the Sahara, prompting the ancient Tuaregs to meet and mingle with the Berbers, bringing H1 lineages into their population.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Gelman have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Gelman

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Gelman" Surname 38.1%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Habits

Gelman

Kinesthetic Learner

Preferring to learn and process information through hands-on activities, practical experiences, and active engagement.

"Gelman" Surname 53.8%

23andMe Users 61.5%

Wellness

Gelman

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Gelman" Surname 21.7%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Gelman?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Gelman are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Ashkenazi Jewish 57.0%

23andMe Users 57.2%