2010
#156,044
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Bikle
A variant spelling of the German surname Bickel, derived from the pet form of the personal name Burkhart.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 123 Americans carry the last name Bikle. That puts it at #151,639 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,786,621 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bikle 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.
Bearers in the US
123
1 in 2,786,621
Census rank
#151,639
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
107
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 107 bearers of the surname Bikle in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 151639th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bikle, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Two or More Races (7.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bikle
The surname BIKLE is of German origin, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have originated in the region of Bavaria, where it was derived from the German word "Bickel," meaning a small hill or mound. This suggests that the earliest bearers of this name may have lived near or on a small rise in the landscape.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the BIKLE name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the region of Brandenburg, dating back to 1368. Here, a certain "Johannes Bikele" is mentioned as a landowner in the village of Schöneberg.
In the 15th century, the BIKLE name appeared in various church records and tax registers across southern Germany. Notable examples include Hans Bikle, a farmer from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, born around 1440, and Margaretha Bikle, a resident of Nuremberg, who married in 1482.
As migration patterns spread across Europe, the BIKLE name traveled with its bearers. In the 17th century, a branch of the family settled in the Netherlands, where the name was adapted to the Dutch spelling "Bikel." One of the earliest recorded instances of this variation is found in the baptismal records of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, where a child named Pieter Bikel was baptized in 1637.
During the 18th century, the BIKLE name made its way to the American colonies, where it was often anglicized to "Bickle" or "Bickley." One notable bearer of this name was Johann Adam Bickle, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in 1753 and fought in the Revolutionary War.
In the 19th century, the BIKLE name continued to spread across Europe and the Americas. Notable individuals from this period include Johann Friedrich Bikle, a German composer and organist born in 1813, and Eliza Bickle, an American educator and women's rights activist who founded the Bickle Academy for Young Ladies in Ohio in 1848.
Other notable figures with the BIKLE surname throughout history include Karl Bikle, a German architect who designed several famous buildings in Munich in the late 19th century, and Gerhard Bikle, a German chemist and inventor who patented a process for the production of synthetic rubber in the 1920s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bikle
Among Census respondents with the surname Bikle, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Two or More Races (7.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Bikle 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 Bikle surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.6% · 82
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 8
- Two or more races7.5% · 8
- Black or African American3.7% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bikle
Bikle appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#151,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
+3 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 4,405 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #156,044 | 104 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #151,639 | 107 | 0.04 | +3 bearers (+2.9%) | Up 4,405 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 Bikle 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 | #156,044 | #151,639 | 2.8% |
| Count | 104 | 107 | 2.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -10.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bikle bearers went from 104 to 107 (+2.9% change). The surname moved up 4,405 positions in the national ranking, going from #156,044 to #151,639.
FAQ
Bikle surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bikle?
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the surname Bikle. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,786,621 residents.
How common is Bikle?
Bikle ranks #151,639 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 107 people with the surname Bikle. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (123), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Bikle.
Has Bikle become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bikle went from 104 recorded bearers to 107. That is an increase of 3 (+2.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #156,044 to #151,639.
What does the Census say about the background of Bikle?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bikle, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Bikle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.6% (82 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bikle appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (76.6%), Hispanic (7.5%), Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Bikle (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 Bikle mean?
A variant spelling of the German surname Bickel, derived from the pet form of the personal name Burkhart. 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 Bikle (0.04 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 Bikle?
You can see how many people have the surname Bikle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.