goldstein

Goldstein is a surname of German and Jewish origin, formed from the elements Gold (gold) and Stein (stone). It likely originated as a topographic or occupational name, describing someone who lived near a site associated with gold or who worked with gold, and also as a habitational name for a place named Goldstein. The name has been common among Ashkenazi Jewish communities and German-speaking populations.

Today, Goldstein is widely found in the United States, Israel, Germany, Poland, and other countries. Variant spellings include Goldstine and, less commonly, Goldstayn, reflecting differences in transliteration and regional pronunciation.

Notable people with the surname include Herbert Goldstein, an American physicist and co-author of the widely used Classical Mechanics textbook; and Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli extremist who killed worshippers in Hebron in 1994. The name appears across a range of fields, including science, politics, and the arts, reflecting its broad cultural and geographic distribution.

The surname Goldstein is often discussed in genealogical and ethnolinguistic contexts as an example of Ashkenazi Jewish and German-derived naming patterns. Variants and related names, as well as places with similar names, can appear in historical records, migration studies, and surname-origin references.