2000
#3,848
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,478
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.14
Rare Last name
Bartels
A German and Dutch occupational surname referring to a furrier or leather preparer and processor.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,634 Americans carry the last name Bartels. That puts it at #4,096 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 35,578 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bartels surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Bartels with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.6K
1 in 35,578
Census rank
#4,096
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,401 bearers of the surname Bartels in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4096th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bartels, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bartels
The surname Bartels originated in the northern regions of Germany, particularly in areas such as Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Schleswig-Holstein. It is believed to have emerged around the 13th or 14th century as a patronymic name, derived from the Germanic personal name Barthold or Bartholomew.
The name Barthold itself is composed of two elements: "bard" meaning "battle" or "warrior," and "hold" meaning "ruler" or "noble." Thus, the name Bartels essentially means "son of Barthold" or "son of the noble warrior." Over time, various spellings emerged, including Bartels, Bartel, Bartels, and Barthels.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bartels can be found in the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical documents from the city of Bremen, dating back to the late 13th century. The name Bartels is also mentioned in the Lübecker Oberstadtbuch, a register of citizens in the city of Lübeck, from the 14th century.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Bartels was Johann Bartels, a German mathematician and astronomer born in Meldorf, Holstein, in 1570. He made significant contributions to the study of comets and planetary motion.
Another historical figure was Hans Bartels, a German Baroque architect and sculptor active in the 17th century. He was responsible for designing several churches and buildings in the northern German region, including the Marienkirche in Rostock, which was completed in 1670.
In the 18th century, Johann Friedrich Bartels (1737-1806) was a German philologist and librarian who worked at the famous Göttingen University Library. He published several works on classical literature and ancient manuscripts.
During the 19th century, Georg Bartels (1792-1858) was a German writer and journalist who published numerous novels and historical works. He is particularly known for his novel "Die Hermannschlacht" (The Battle of Arminius), which depicted the famous battle between Germanic tribes and the Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest.
Moving into the 20th century, Julius Bartels (1899-1964) was a German geophysicist and meteorologist who made significant contributions to the study of geomagnetism and the Earth's ionosphere. He developed the concept of the "Bartels Rotation," which describes the periodic variations in the Earth's magnetic field.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bartels
Among Census respondents with the surname Bartels, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Bartels bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Bartels surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.0% · 7,649
- Two or more races3.4% · 284
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 266
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 84
- Black or African American1.0% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 35
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bartels
Bartels appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#4,032
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,809
+331 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 2.99
Rank movement Down 184 places
2020
#4,096
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,401
-408 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 2.81
Rank movement Down 64 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,848 | 8,478 | 3.14 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,032 | 8,809 | 2.99 | +331 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 184 places |
| 2020 | #4,096 | 8,401 | 2.81 | -408 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 64 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Bartels surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #4,032 | #4,096 | -1.6% |
| Count | 8,809 | 8,401 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 2.99 | 2.81 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bartels bearers went from 8,809 to 8,401 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 64 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,032 to #4,096.
FAQ
Bartels surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bartels?
Name Census estimates that about 9,634 living Americans carry the surname Bartels. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 35,578 residents.
How common is Bartels?
Bartels ranks #4,096 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.81 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 8,401 people with the surname Bartels. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,634), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.81 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Bartels.
Has Bartels become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bartels went from 8,809 recorded bearers to 8,401. That is a decrease of 408 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,032 to #4,096.
What does the Census say about the background of Bartels?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bartels, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Bartels in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.0% (7,649 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bartels appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.0%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (3.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Bartels (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Bartels mean?
A German and Dutch occupational surname referring to a furrier or leather preparer and processor. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Bartels (2.81 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Bartels?
You can see how many Americans have the surname Bartels on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.