Epstein

The surname Epstein (or Eppstein or Epshtein) (Yiddish: עפּשטײן, romanized: Epshteyn) is one of the oldest Ashkenazi Jewish family names.^[1] It is probably derived from the German town of Eppstein, in Hesse;^[2] the place-name was probably derived from Gaulish apa^[3] ("water", in the sense of a river)^[4] 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 (born 1928), 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
• 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), Czechoslovakian Olympic 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) (born 1937), 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 (c. 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

See also

• Eppstein, town in Hesse, Germany
• Lords of Eppstein, family of Germany nobility
• "Le château d'Eppstein", story by Alexandre Dumas
• Ebstein's anomaly
• Epstein–Barr virus
• Palais Epstein in Vienna
• The Epstein School, a private Jewish-day school in Atlanta
• Epstein Hebrew Academy, a private Jewish day-school in St. Louis
• Epstein Brothers Orchestra, American Klezmer quartet