Oppenheimer (surname)

Oppenheimer is a toponymic surname, derived from the German town Oppenheim, common among Germans and Ashkenazi Jews.

Most uses refer to J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967), the American physicist who headed the Manhattan Project.

Other notable people with the surname include:

In arts and media

Alan Oppenheimer (born 1930), American film actor
Andrés Oppenheimer (born 1951), Argentine author and journalist known for his analysis of Latin American politics
Jerry Oppenheimer (fl. 1980s–2010s), American biographer
Jess Oppenheimer (1913–1988), American radio and television writer, producer, and director, creator of I Love Lucy
Joel Oppenheimer (1930–1988), American writer
Joshua Oppenheimer (born 1974), American film director
Joshua Oppenheimer (fl. 2000s–2020s), American screenwriter
Lillian Oppenheimer (1898–1992), American origami pioneer
Max Oppenheimer (1885–1954), Austrian painter and graphic artist
Meaghan Oppenheimer (born 1986), American screenwriter and producer
Stephen Oppenheimer (born 1947), British paediatrician, geneticist, and writer on genetics and human prehistory

Bernard Oppenheimer (1866–1921), South African and British diamond merchant and philanthropist, brother of Ernest
Ernest Oppenheimer (1880–1957), diamond and gold mining entrepreneur and financier; controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, brother of Bernard
Harry Oppenheimer (1908–2000), South African businessman of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, son of Ernest
Nicky Oppenheimer (born 1945), chairman of De Beers and of The Diamond Trading Company, son of Harry

Damon Oppenheimer (born 1962), Vice President and Director of Amateur Scouting for the New York Yankees
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer (1698–1738), financial adviser to Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg
Samuel Oppenheimer (1635–1703), Jewish banker
Peter Oppenheimer (fl. 1980s–2020s), American business executive, first CFO of Apple Inc

Charles Cuprill Oppenheimer (1916–2011), lawyer and Rotary District Governor for Puerto Rico
David Oppenheimer (1834–1897), second mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Kay Oppenheimer (fl. 2000s), member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
Reuben Oppenheimer (1897–1982), justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals
Santiago Oppenheimer (1869 – ca. 1930), mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1906
Suzi Oppenheimer (born 1934), New York politician

Clive Oppenheimer (born 1964), British volcanologist
Daniel M. Oppenheimer (fl. 2000s–2020s), American professor of psychology at UCLA
Frank Oppenheimer (1912–1985), American physicist, brother of J. Robert Oppenheimer, founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco
Franz Oppenheimer (1864–1943), German sociologist and political economist
Hillel Oppenheimer (1899–1971), Israeli professor of botany, son of Franz
Jane M. Oppenheimer (1911–1996), American embryologist and historian of science
Katherine Oppenheimer (1910–1972), German-American biologist, wife of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Melanie Oppenheimer (born 1957), Australian historian
Michael Oppenheimer (born 1946), American professor of geosciences at Princeton University, authority on climate change
Rebecca Oppenheimer (born 1972), American astrophysicist
Stephen Oppenheimer (born 1947), British popular science writer in prehistory

Damon Oppenheimer (born 1962), Vice President and Director of Amateur Scouting for the New York Yankees
David Oppenheim (rabbi) (1664–1736), also called Oppenheimer, rabbi of Prague and bibliophile
Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer (1901–1974), also known as Isabel la Negra, Puerto Rican madam
Joseph Oppenheimer (1820–1893), German-British businessman and inventor of telegraphic equipment
Josh Oppenheimer (born 1969), Israeli-American basketball coach, and former basketball player
Thomas Oppenheimer (born 1988), German ice hockey player