Weintraub
A German and Ashkenazi Jewish surname built from words for “wine” and “grape,” likely referring to a place sign, vineyard, or related house name.
The #8,665 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 81,420 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is formed from German and Yiddish elements meaning “wine” and “grape.” In older German naming, such combinations often pointed to a house, inn, or signboard rather than a literal family occupation. The excerpt links it with other wine-related surnames and suggests a connection through a house name such as “the grape.”
History
Weintraub is best known as an Ashkenazi Jewish surname, especially in German-speaking and Eastern European Jewish communities. Like many surnames of this type, it appears to have developed in the period when fixed family names were being adopted from local German vocabulary and house signs. The form is relatively uncommon but recognizable in modern Jewish and German-American records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same wine-and-grape imagery appears in several related German surnames and house-name traditions, reflecting how often everyday signs became hereditary names.
From the historical record
“Weinstock III. z. T. wohl durch Häuser-N. vermittelt, wie auch Weintraub, vgl. Gast- hof „zur Traube**. Wienstruek niederd. (Weinstrauch). Weinzierl III. (bayr.) ahd. wlnzuril (aus lat”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen