Epstein

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Surname

title: "Epstein" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ashkenazi-surnames", "german-language-surnames", "yiddish-language-surnames", "jewish-toponymic-surnames"] description: "Surname" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epstein" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Surname ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox name"]

Field	Value
name	Epstein
pronunciation
languageorigin	Yiddish
variant	Eppstein
derivation
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::callout[type=note] the name ::

| name = Epstein | pronunciation =
| languageorigin = Yiddish | variant =Eppstein |derivation=|origin=Eppstein, Germany|derivative=Epshteyn, Epshtayn, Epshtein}} The surname Epstein (or Eppstein or Epshtein) () is one of the oldest Ashkenazi Jewish family names. It is probably derived from the German town of Eppstein, in Hesse; the place-name was probably derived from Gaulish apa 'water' (in the sense of a river) and German -stein 'stone' (in the sense of a hill).

Some notable people with this name include:

Arts

Abby Epstein, American documentary director and producer
Alex Epstein (writer) (born 1963), American Canadian writer and film producer
Alex Epstein (born 1971), Israeli writer
Alvin Epstein (1925–2018), American actor and director
Asaf Epstein (born 1978), Israeli film director, writer, and producer
Barbara Epstein (1928–2006), American literary editor
Benita Epstein, American cartoonist
Brett Epstein (born 1978), American musician, songwriter, and record producer
Daniel Epstein (pianist) (born 1946), American pianist
Daniel Mark Epstein (born 1948), American biographer and poet
David Epstein (conductor) (1930–2002), American composer, conductor, and music scientist
Deborah Epstein (born 1984), French-American singer-songwriter more commonly known as SoShy
Dorrit Epstein (1917–2014), Czech British graphic designer
Elisabeth Epstein (1879–1956), Russian painter
Emily Rose Epstein, American drummer
Freyda Epstein (1956–2003), American folk musician
Gustav von Epstein (1828–1879), commissioned the Palais Epstein.
Győző Epstein (1879–1945), Hungarian sculptor, graphic artist, and painter
Hadassah Spira Epstein (1909–1992), American dancer
Howie Epstein (1955–2003), American bass guitarist
Jacob Epstein (1880–1959), American-British sculptor
Jacob Epstein (writer), American television writer
Jake Epstein (born 1987), Canadian actor
Jason Epstein (1928–2022), American publisher who popularized the trade paperback
Jean Epstein (1897–1953), French filmmaker
Jennifer Cody Epstein, American novelist
Jerome Epstein (director) (1922–1991), American filmmaker
Josh Epstein, Canadian actor, producer and writer
Joshua Epstein (violinist) (born 1940), Israeli musician
Julius Epstein (1832–1926), Croatian pianist
Julius J. Epstein (1909–2000), American screenwriter, brother of Philip G. Epstein
June Epstein (1918–2004), Australian author, radio broadcaster, musician, and disability advocate
Kalama Epstein (born 2000), American actor
Kathie Lee Epstein (born 1953), maiden name of Kathie Lee Gifford, American television host
Kathleen Epstein (1901–1979), American-British sculptor
Lawrence J. Epstein (born 1946), American author
Leslie Epstein (1938–2025), American novelist and essayist
Marie Epstein (1899–1995), Polish-French actress and film preservationist
Marti Epstein (born 1959), American composer
Mel Epstein (1910–1994), American film director and producer
Michael J. Epstein (born 1976), American filmmaker and musician
Mitch Epstein (born 1952), American photographer
Nicky Epstein, American knitting designer and author
Peter Epstein (born 1967), American jazz saxophonist
Philip G. Epstein (1909–1952), American Oscar-winning screenwriter, brother to Julius J. Epstein
Rob Epstein (born 1955), American director
Robin Epstein, American artist
Sadie Kuttner Epstein (1883–1973), American concert singer
Selma Epstein (1927–2014), American concert pianist
Steven Epstein (music producer), U.S. classical music producer with Sony
Ted Epstein, American drummer
Temi Epstein (born 1975), American child actress
Zale "Zalezy" Epstein, Canadian songwriter and musician

Business

Betty Halff-Epstein (1905–1991), Swiss entrepreneur and second-wave feminist
Brian Epstein (1934–1967), businessman, manager of the Beatles
Jacob Epstein (art collector) (1864–1945), Lithuanian-American merchant, philanthropist, and art collector
Jacob Epstein (banker) (1771–1843), Polish banker and philanthropist
Jeffrey Epstein (1953–2019), American financier and sex offender
Mark Epstein (property developer) (born 1954), American property developer and brother of Jeffrey Epstein

Mathematics

Bernard Epstein (1920–2005), American mathematician and physicist
Charles Epstein (mathematician), American applied mathematician
David Eppstein (born 1963), British-American computer scientist and mathematician
David B. A. Epstein (born 1937), British mathematician
Lenore Epstein (born 1942), birth name of Lenore Blum, computer scientist and mathematician
Lenore A. Epstein (1914–1994), American statistician
Paul Epstein (1871–1939), German mathematician
Paul Sophus Epstein (1883–1966), American mathematician/physicist of Polish/Russian origin and California Institute of Technology professor.
Richard Arnold Epstein (1927–2016), American mathematician and game theorist

Military

Giora Epstein (1938–2025), "ace of aces" Israeli fighter pilot
Joseph Epstein (1911–1944), communist French resistance leader

Religion

Abraham Epstein (born 1841), Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar
Aryeh Leib Epstein (1708–1775), Polish rabbi
Baruch Epstein (1860–1941), Lithuanian rabbi and the son of Yechiel Michel Epstein
Ephraim Epstein (1876–1960), American Orthodox rabbi
Greg Epstein (born 1977), Humanist rabbi and chaplain
Isidore Epstein (1894–1962), English rabbi and rabbinical scholar
Jehiel Michel Epstein, 17th-century writer and ethicist
Klonimus Kalman Epstein (1753–1825), Polish rabbi, Kabbalist and a leader of the Chassidic movement
Marc Michael Epstein, American religious scholar
Mendel Epstein, American rabbi and kidnapper, also known as "The Prodfather"
Moshe Mordechai Epstein (1866–1933), rabbi and author of the Levush Mordechai
Moshe Yechiel Epstein (1889–1971), Hasidic rabbi and Israel Prize recipient
Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829–1908), Lithuanian rabbi and author of the Arukh HaShulkhan
Yitzchak Eizik Epstein (1770–1857), Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi and scholar
Zelik Epstein (1914–2009), Rosh Yeshiva of the Shaar HaTorah-Grodno Yeshiva, located in Kew Gardens, New York

Science and medicine

Alan H. Epstein (born 1949), American aeronautical engineer
Alois Epstein (1849–1918), Czech pediatrician
Anthony Epstein (1921–2024), British pathologist and academic
Arnold Epstein, American health scholar
Berthold Epstein (1890–1962), Czech pediatrician and professor
Charles Epstein (geneticist) (1933–2011), American geneticist and Unabomber victim
Claire Epstein (1911–2000), Israeli archaeologist
Edward Epstein (meteorologist) (1931–2008), American developer of statistical weather forecasting
Fred Epstein (1937–2006), American pediatric neurosurgeon
Gerald Epstein (1935–2019), American psychiatrist
Isadore Epstein (1919–1995), American astronomer
Joshua M. Epstein, American epidemiologist
Margaret J. Eppstein, American scholar
Mark Epstein (born 1953), American psychotherapist
Martha C. Epstein (1927–2003), American geneticist
Sir Michael A. Epstein (1921–2024), British pathologist, discoverer of the Epstein-Barr virus.
Robert Epstein (born 1953), American psychologist
Robert M. Epstein (1928–2024), American anesthesiologist
Rose Frisch (Rose Epstein Frisch, 1918–2015), American biologist
Russell Epstein, American psychologist
Samuel Epstein (1926–2018), American doctor and professor of environmental medicine
Samuel Epstein (geochemist) (1919–2001), Canadian-American geochemist
Slava Epstein, American marine biologist and microbial ecologist
Stephen Epstein (cardiologist), American cardiologist and medical researcher

Social sciences

Alek Epstein (born 1975), Russian-Israeli sociologist
Bill Epstein (1924–1999), British social anthropologist
Brian Epstein (philosopher), American philosopher
Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, American sociologist
Fritz T. Epstein (1898–1979), American historian
Gene Epstein (born 1944), American economist
Jonathan Epstein, Australian economist
Larry G. Epstein, Canadian economist
Mikhail Epstein (born 1950), Russian-American literary theorist and Emory University professor
Paul Eppstein (1902–1944), German sociologist and Holocaust victim
Ron Epstein (born 1942), American scholar and translator
Simon Epstein (born 1947), Israeli economist and historian
Stephan R. Epstein (1960–2007), British economic historian
Steven Epstein (academic), American sociologist
T. Scarlett Epstein (1922–2014), British-Austrian social anthropologist and economist

Sport

Andrew Epstein (born 1996), American soccer player
Charlotte Epstein (1884–1938), American swimming coach
Denis Epstein (born 1986), German football player
Dmitry Epstein (born 1993), Dutch pair skater
Eddie Epstein, baseball statistician
Esther Epstein (born 1954), American chess player
Hayden Epstein (born 1980), American NFL football player
Jan Epstein (1918–1988), Australian cricketer
Kurt Epstein (1904–1975), Czech water polo player
Mike Epstein, (born 1943), American major league baseball player
Nikolay Epshtein (1919–2005), Soviet ice hockey coach
Ray Epstein (born 1959), Australian Paralympic weightlifter and powerlifting coach
Theo Epstein (born 1973), American Major League Baseball Executive

Politics and law

Anthony C. Epstein (born 1952), American jurist
Benjamin Epstein (1912–1983), Anti-Defamation League director
Daniel Z. Epstein (born 1983), American lawyer
David G. Epstein, American law professor
Eliahu Epstein (1903–1990), birth name of Eliahu Eilat, Israeli diplomat and orientalist
Eric Epstein, American political activist
Gloria Epstein, Canadian judge
Harvey Epstein (born 1967), American politician
Howard Epstein (born 1949), Canadian politician
Jerome Epstein (politician) (1937–2025), American politician and criminal
Lee Epstein (born 1958), American political scientist
Leon Epstein (1919–2006), American political scientist
Leopold Vail Epstein (1910–1991), American attorney and father of Linda McCartney
Mitzi Epstein, American politician
Moses J. Epstein ( 1911–1960), American politician
Philip Michael Epstein (born 1942), Canadian family law lawyer
Richard Epstein (born 1943), American law professor
Samuel Epstein (politician) (1890–1951), American politician, lawyer, and physician
William Epstein (1912–2001), Canadian international civil servant

Writing and journalism

Alan Epstein (1949–2016), American travel writer
Alex Epstein (born 1980), American author
David Epstein (journalist), American journalist
Dena Epstein (1916–2013), American music librarian, writer, and musicologist
Edward Jay Epstein (1935–2024), American author and early critic of the Warren Commission
Eleni Epstein (1925–1991), American fashion journalist
Helen Epstein (born 1947), American author and memoirist
Helen Epstein (journalist) (born 1961), American journalist and professor
Israel Epstein (1915–2005), Polish-Chinese journalist
Joseph Epstein (born 1937), American editor and essayist
Julius Epstein (writer) (1901–1975), American journalist and scholar
Lewis Carroll Epstein, American author
Louise Epstein (born 1965), Swedish journalist and author
Melech Epstein (1889–1979), American journalist and historian
Nadine Epstein, American journalist and author
Randi Hutter Epstein (born 1962), American medical writer, author and journalist
Shakne Epshtein (1883–1945), Soviet journalist

Other

David Epstein (Australia) (born 1963), Australian public affairs specialist
David Epstein (gangster), former member of Epstein–Wolmark gang, son of Mendel Epstein
Gabriel Epstein (1918–2017), British architect and urban planner
Hedy Epstein (1924–2016), Jewish anti-Zionist
Jacob Epstein (spy) (1903–1998), American alleged Soviet intelligence agent
Ruth Wilson Epstein (1906–1996), American nurse and wife of Jacob Epstein (spy)
Seraphine Eppstein (1861–1942), American clubwoman and hospital administrator
Sorella Epstein (1931–1941), Latvian Holocaust victim
Yishaq Epstein (1862–1943), Hebrew linguist and educator

Fictional characters

Juan Epstein, fictional character on the TV series Welcome Back, Kotter
Dov Epstein, fictional character on the TV series Rookie Blue
Solomon Epstein, inventor of the Epstein-Fusion Drive in the novel and TV series The Expanse

Variant surnames

Katja Ebstein (born 1945), German singer
Richard Ebstein (born 1943), American behavioral geneticist
Wilhelm Ebstein (1836–1912), German physician and nutritionist
Nikolay Epshtein (1918–2005), Soviet ice hockey coach
Shakne Epshtein (1883–1945), Soviet journalist
Alex Epshteyn, computer programmer
Boris Epshteyn (born 1982), political commentator

References

{{Cite Jewish Encyclopedia
Muraskin, Bennett. (November 13, 2012). "The Origins and Meanings of Ashkenazic Last Names".
"What Does the Jewish Last Name Epstein mean?".
(1894). "Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen: Wortschatz der Keltischen Spracheinheit". Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Ernst Förstemann. (1863). "Die deutschen Ortsnamen".

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