Find out how popular the last name Amsel is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Amsel.

Amsel, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Amsel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Amsel in America

Amsel is the 58876th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Amsel surname appeared 344 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Amsel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Amsel to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Amsel

The surname Amsel is of German origin, deriving from the Middle High German word 'amsel' meaning 'blackbird'. It originated in areas where German was spoken, particularly in parts of modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The name Amsel can be traced back to at least the 13th century, with some of the earliest recorded instances found in medieval German records and documents. It was likely initially a descriptive surname, referring to someone with a physical resemblance to a blackbird or perhaps someone who had a particular affinity for these birds.

In the 14th century, the variant spelling 'Amsell' appears in the Codex Manesse, an important medieval German manuscript containing works of Middle High German poetry. This indicates that the name was well-established by this time and had begun to take on hereditary significance.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Johannes Amsel, a merchant from Nuremberg, Germany, who lived in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Hans Amsel, a German painter and engraver active in the early 16th century, known for his religious works and portraits.

In the 17th century, the Amsel family were prominent landowners in the region of Saxony, with several members holding positions of influence in local government and society. Johann Friedrich Amsel (1624-1699) was a respected jurist and legal scholar who served as a magistrate in Leipzig.

The name Amsel has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Amselgrund, a village in Saxony, and Amselberg, a mountain in the Franconian Forest region of Bavaria. These locations likely derived their names from the presence of blackbirds in the area or from early settlers with the Amsel surname.

Other notable individuals with the surname Amsel include:

1. Heinrich Amsel (1806-1878), a German botanist and horticulturist known for his work on cultivating ornamental plants and establishing botanical gardens.

2. Gustav Amsel (1835-1891), a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin and other German cities.

3. Pauline Amsel (1865-1942), a German writer and poet who published several collections of poetry and short stories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

4. Otto Amsel (1878-1952), a German engineer and inventor who held numerous patents in the field of automotive technology, contributing to the development of early internal combustion engines.

5. Erich Amsel (1923-2000), a German-American chemist and researcher who made significant contributions to the study of organic semiconductors and the development of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Amsel

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Amsel.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Amsel was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Amsel has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Amsel was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Amsel, please contact us.

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