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

Biel, 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 Biel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Biel in America

Biel is the 13010th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Biel surname appeared 2,359 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Biel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Biel 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 Biel

The surname Biel has its origins in Germany and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "biele," which means "hill" or "slope," suggesting that the name may have originated from a geographic location or a topographic feature.

The earliest known record of the name Biel can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Lubecensis, a collection of documents related to the city of Lübeck, Germany, dated around 1270. This suggests that the name was present in Northern Germany during the Middle Ages.

In the 14th century, there are mentions of the surname Biel in various historical records, such as the Hanseatic League's trade documents. This indicates that individuals with this name were involved in the commercial activities of the powerful trading association that dominated maritime commerce in Northern Europe during that period.

One notable individual bearing the surname Biel was Gabriel Biel, a renowned German scholastic philosopher and theologian who lived from around 1420 to 1495. He was an influential figure in the late medieval period and is considered one of the last great thinkers of the scholastic tradition.

Another prominent figure with the surname Biel was Johann Christian Biel, a German astronomer born in 1711. He made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and is best known for his work on the orbital calculations of comets.

In the 18th century, the surname Biel can be found in various records from the German states, including birth and marriage registers. This suggests that the name had spread across various regions of Germany by this time.

The name Biel also appears in historical records from other parts of Europe, such as Switzerland and Austria, indicating that individuals with this surname may have migrated or had ancestors who emigrated from Germany to other regions.

One notable Swiss individual with the surname Biel was Johann Jakob Biel, a Swiss theologian and philosopher who lived from 1671 to 1732. He was known for his contributions to the study of natural law and moral philosophy.

The surname Biel can also be found in historical records from other parts of the world, particularly in regions with significant German immigration, such as the United States and Canada. This suggests that individuals bearing this name may have been part of the German diaspora that spread across the globe in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Biel

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

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

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

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