2000
#33,206
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 649
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.24
Very Rare Last name
Minkoff
A surname derived from the Yiddish word "minkov" meaning a mink trader or furrier.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 792 Americans carry the last name Minkoff. That puts it at #35,148 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.23 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 432,771 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Minkoff surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
792
1 in 432,771
Census rank
#35,148
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
691
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 691 bearers of the surname Minkoff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.23 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 35148th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Minkoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Minkoff
The surname Minkoff has its origins in Eastern Europe, tracing its roots back to areas of modern-day Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is believed to have emerged during the late 16th or early 17th century. The name is derived from the Yiddish word "mink," which refers to the small furry animal of the weasel family, and the suffix "-off," which is a common Slavic patronymic ending indicating lineage or descent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Minkoff name can be found in the Metryka Litewska, a collection of administrative documents from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dating back to the late 16th century. In these records, the name is spelled as "Minkow" or "Minkov," reflecting the variations in spelling and pronunciation common during that time.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Minkoff name gained prominence in various parts of Eastern Europe, particularly in the Jewish communities of Poland and Ukraine. Notable individuals bearing this surname include Shmuel Minkoff (1635-1697), a respected rabbi and scholar from Lublin, Poland, and Yitzhak Minkoff (1718-1783), a prominent merchant and philanthropist from Lviv, Ukraine.
As the Minkoff family spread across Eastern Europe, various branches emerged with slight variations in the spelling of the surname, such as Minkof, Minkovski, and Minkovsky. One notable figure from this period was Avraham Minkovski (1784-1858), a renowned Talmudic scholar and author from Vilnius, Lithuania.
In the 19th century, many Minkoff families emigrated from Eastern Europe to various parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and countries in Western Europe. One of the earliest recorded Minkoff immigrants to the United States was Yakov Minkoff, who arrived in New York City in 1884 from Odessa, Ukraine.
Throughout the 20th century, the Minkoff surname continued to gain recognition, with several notable individuals making their mark in various fields. These include:
1. David Minkoff (1899-1974), an American lawyer and civil rights activist.
2. Rebecca Minkoff (born 1981), an American fashion designer and entrepreneur.
3. Nikolai Minkoff (1894-1967), a Russian-born American artist and painter.
4. Mikhail Minkoff (1921-1998), a Soviet-born American chemist and inventor.
5. Andrei Minkoff (born 1963), a Russian-born American chess grandmaster.
While the Minkoff surname has undergone various spelling variations over the centuries, its roots can be traced back to the Eastern European regions of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine, where it emerged as a patronymic name associated with the fur trade and the Yiddish word "mink."
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Minkoff
Among Census respondents with the surname Minkoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Minkoff bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Minkoff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.2% · 644
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 25
- Two or more races1.9% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 6
- Black or African American0.4% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Minkoff
Minkoff appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#35,147
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 641
-8 bearers (-1.2%)
Per 100,000 0.22
Rank movement Down 1,941 places
2020
#35,148
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 691
+50 bearers (+7.8%)
Per 100,000 0.23
Rank movement Down 1 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #33,206 | 649 | 0.24 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #35,147 | 641 | 0.22 | -8 bearers (-1.2%) | Down 1,941 places |
| 2020 | #35,148 | 691 | 0.23 | +50 bearers (+7.8%) | Down 1 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Minkoff surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #35,147 | #35,148 | -0.0% |
| Count | 641 | 691 | 7.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.22 | 0.23 | 5.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Minkoff bearers went from 641 to 691 (+7.8% change). The surname moved down 1 positions in the national ranking, going from #35,147 to #35,148.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Minkoff
FAQ
Minkoff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Minkoff?
Name Census estimates that about 792 living Americans carry the surname Minkoff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 432,771 residents.
How common is Minkoff?
Minkoff ranks #35,148 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.23 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 691 people with the surname Minkoff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (792), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.23 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.23 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Minkoff.
Has Minkoff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Minkoff went from 641 recorded bearers to 691. That is an increase of 50 (+7.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #35,147 to #35,148.
What does the Census say about the background of Minkoff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Minkoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Minkoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (644 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Minkoff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.2%), Hispanic (3.6%), Two or More Races (1.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Minkoff (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Minkoff mean?
A surname derived from the Yiddish word "minkov" meaning a mink trader or furrier. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Minkoff (0.23 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Minkoff?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.