Explore the Family Name Rifkin

The meaning of Rifkin

Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metronymic from the Yiddish female personal name Rifke (from the Hebrew name Rivka; see Rebecca), with the addition of the Slavic possessive suffix -in. Some characteristic forenames: Jewish Hyman, Avron, Mort, Yetta.

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

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

According to data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Rifkin has seen a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. Ranked 17,426th in 2000, it dropped to 19,390th place by 2010, marking an 11.27% decrease in popularity. The number of individuals carrying the Rifkin surname also declined during this period, from 1,492 in 2000 to 1,394 in 2010. This represents a 6.57% decrease, with the proportion per 100,000 people also falling by 14.55%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#17,426	#19,390	-11.27%
Count	1,492	1,394	-6.57%
Proportion per 100k	0.55	0.47	-14.55%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rifkin

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows some notable shifts among those bearing the Rifkin surname between 2000 and 2010. Although the majority identified as White – 98.19% in 2000 down to 96.70% in 2010 – there was a significant increase in the number who identified as Hispanic. This group grew by 105.75%, albeit from a relatively low base of 0.87%. In addition, there was a small but noticeable increase in those identifying with two or more races, up by 21.28%. Meanwhile, despite no instances of identification as Asian/Pacific Islander in 2000, by 2010 this group accounted for 0.36% of those with the Rifkin surname. There were no recorded changes for those identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	98.19%	96.7%	-1.52%
Hispanic	0.87%	1.79%	105.75%
Two or More Races	0.47%	0.57%	21.28%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.36%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%