Show ContentsRothman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Rothman

What does the name Rothman mean?

The surname Rothman is what is known as a nickname surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. This particular surname comes from the German word 'rot,' which means red. Therefore, someone who had red hair would have adopted this name. Since the number of Jewish families who adopted the surname Rothman far exceeds the actual number of Jewish people likely to have had red hair during the period of surname adoption, this name appears to be a Jewish Ashkenazic ornamental name. Ornamental surnames are names that are not necessarily related to the localities, occupations, nicknames or given names of the first people who used the name.

Rothman Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Rothman, Rothmann, Rudman, Rudmann, Roodman, Rottman, Rottmann, Rotterman, Reitman, Reitmann and many more.

Rothman Ranking

In the United States, the name Rothman is the 5,650th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1


Rothman migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Rothman Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Abel Rothman, aged 18, who arrived in New York in 1864 2
  • Theodore Rothman, who arrived in Mississippi in 1888 2
  • Charles T C Rothman, who landed in Mississippi in 1893 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Rothman (post 1700) +

  • James E. Rothman (b. 1950), American Fergus F. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Yale University, recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
  • David Rothman (1935-2004), American statistician and public policy advisor
  • David J. Rothman, American author and professor of Social Medicine
  • Sandy Rothman (b. 1946), American bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and record producer
  • Rodney Rothman, American screenwriter, television producer, and author
  • Mark Rothman, American noted and credited writer
  • Lorraine Rothman (1932-2007), American founding member of the feminist Self-Help Clinic movement
  • Moses "Mo" Rothman (1919-2011), Canadian-born, American studio executive
  • Stephanie Rothman (b. 1936), American film director, producer and screenwriter
  • Tony Rothman (b. 1953), American theoretical physicist, academic and writer
  • ... (Another 20 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

USS Indianapolis
  • Aaron Rothman, American crew member on board the ship "USS Indianapolis" when she was on a top secret trip for the first nuclear weapon, she was sunk by Japanese Navy on 30th July 1945, he was one of the many who were killed in the sinking due to exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks 3


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  3. Final Crew List, retrieved 2021, October 30th Retrieved from https://www.ussindianapolis.com/final-crew


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