2000
#5,803
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,459
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.02
Rare Last name
Rothman
A Jewish occupational surname referring to someone who dyed fabric using the color red.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,560 Americans carry the last name Rothman. That puts it at #6,690 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 61,646 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rothman 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Rothman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.6K
1 in 61,646
Census rank
#6,690
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,849 bearers of the surname Rothman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6690th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rothman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rothman
The surname Rothman originated in Germany, with the earliest known records dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the German words "rot" meaning "red" and "mann" meaning "man," suggesting a possible link to someone with reddish hair or a ruddy complexion.
The name first appeared in various medieval documents from the regions of Bavaria and Saxony. In the 14th century, there are records of a Rothman family residing in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which may have influenced the spelling and adoption of the surname.
One of the earliest documented references to the Rothman name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, where a "Henricus Rothman" is mentioned in a land transaction dated 1328.
In the 15th century, a notable figure bearing the Rothman surname was Johannes Rothman, a German theologian and reformer (1462-1538) who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation alongside Martin Luther.
Another prominent individual with this surname was Johann Rothman, a German astronomer (1608-1684) who made significant contributions to the study of comets and the calculation of their orbits.
During the 17th century, a Rothman family immigrated to the American colonies from Germany, with records indicating their settlement in Pennsylvania. One of their descendants, John Rothman (1770-1845), served as a soldier in the American Revolutionary War.
In the 19th century, a well-known figure was William Rothman (1824-1901), a German-American industrialist who founded the Rothman Knitting Mills in Philadelphia, which became one of the largest textile manufacturers in the United States at the time.
As the name spread across Europe and beyond, variations in spelling emerged, such as Rothmann, Rotmann, and Rottman, reflecting regional linguistic differences and influences.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rothman
Among Census respondents with the surname Rothman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Rothman 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 Rothman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 4,508
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 162
- Two or more races2.3% · 111
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 49
- Black or African American0.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rothman
Rothman 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
#6,336
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,379
-80 bearers (-1.5%)
Per 100,000 1.82
Rank movement Down 533 places
2020
#6,690
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,849
-530 bearers (-9.9%)
Per 100,000 1.62
Rank movement Down 354 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,803 | 5,459 | 2.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,336 | 5,379 | 1.82 | -80 bearers (-1.5%) | Down 533 places |
| 2020 | #6,690 | 4,849 | 1.62 | -530 bearers (-9.9%) | Down 354 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 Rothman 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 | #6,336 | #6,690 | -5.6% |
| Count | 5,379 | 4,849 | -9.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.82 | 1.62 | -10.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rothman bearers went from 5,379 to 4,849 (-9.9% change). The surname moved down 354 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,336 to #6,690.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Rothman
FAQ
Rothman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rothman?
Name Census estimates that about 5,560 living Americans carry the surname Rothman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 61,646 residents.
How common is Rothman?
Rothman ranks #6,690 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.62 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,849 people with the surname Rothman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,560), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.62 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Rothman.
Has Rothman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rothman went from 5,379 recorded bearers to 4,849. That is a decrease of 530 (-9.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,336 to #6,690.
What does the Census say about the background of Rothman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rothman, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Rothman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (4,508 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rothman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Hispanic (3.3%), Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Rothman (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 Rothman mean?
A Jewish occupational surname referring to someone who dyed fabric using the color red. 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 Rothman (1.62 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 are called Rothman?
Want to know how many people have the surname Rothman? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.