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

Ansel, 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 Ansel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ansel in America

Ansel is the 24214th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ansel surname appeared 1,037 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 Ansel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ansel 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 Ansel

The surname Ansel is a patronymic surname, derived from the diminutive form of the Germanic personal name Anselm, which is composed of the elements 'ans' meaning 'god' and 'helm' meaning 'helmet' or 'protection'. This name is believed to have originated in France, where it was popularized by Saint Anselm of Canterbury, an influential philosopher and theologian of the 11th century.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Ansel can be traced back to the 12th century in northern France, particularly in the regions of Normandy and Brittany. It is likely that the name spread throughout France and neighboring countries during this time period.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Ansel was Raoul Ansel, a landowner in the village of Noyers-sur-Serein, in Burgundy, France, mentioned in a charter dated 1225. Another early record is found in the Cartulary of Saint-Sernin of Toulouse, which mentions a certain Guillaume Ansel in 1267.

The surname Ansel has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One such figure was Jean Ansel, a French physician and botanist from the 16th century, who served as the personal doctor to King Henry IV of France. Another notable bearer was Étienne Ansel, a French Benedictine monk and historian who lived in the 17th century and wrote a history of the abbey of Saint-Remi in Reims.

In England, the surname Ansel has its roots in the Norman Conquest of 1066, when many Norman families with this name settled in various parts of the country. One of the earliest known English bearers was Robert Ansel, who is recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1195.

Another notable figure was Sir John Ansel, a 14th-century English knight and landowner, who served as a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire in 1386. In the 16th century, there was also a William Ansel, a prominent merchant and alderman from the city of Bristol, who served as the city's mayor in 1547.

Beyond France and England, the surname Ansel has also been found in other European countries, such as Germany, where it was sometimes spelled as Anselm or Anselmann. In the United States, the name has been present since the colonial era, with early immigrants bearing the surname arriving from various parts of Europe.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ansel

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

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 Ansel 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 Ansel 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 Ansel was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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