Weinstein
A German surname meaning “vine-stone” or “rock by the vineyard,” usually understood as a topographic or ornamental name.
The #2,659 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,764 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is commonly explained from German Wein, “wine” or “vine,” plus Stein, “stone” or “rock.” In that sense, it literally means “vine-stone” or “wine-stone,” and may originally have referred to a rocky place near vineyards or to a house or area marked by such a feature. Some 19th-century surname writers also treated it as a compound of Wein- plus Stein without insisting on a single fixed historical meaning, so the exact origin may vary by family.
History
The name appears in German-speaking areas and later became well known among Ashkenazi Jewish families, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. In modern usage it is widely associated with German and Jewish family lines, and in English-speaking countries it spread through immigration. Because surname forms could be adopted or standardized in different places, separate Weinstein families may not share one single origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same first element Wein- also appears in many other German surnames and place-names connected with wine, vineyards, or vine-growing.
From the historical record
“WEINSTEIN (Ger.) Vine-Rock [see under Weinberg, and -|- Ger. O.H.Ger. stein, stone, rock] WEISS (Ger.) White [Ger. weiss, M.H.Ger. O.H.Ger. wlz, oMer hwr'z] WEISSMAN(N (Ger.) White or Fair Man [see Weiss, and -|- Ger. mann, O.H.Ger.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)