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

Chalet, 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 Chalet surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Chalet in America

Chalet is the 120901st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Chalet surname appeared 143 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 Chalet.

We can also compare 2010 data for Chalet 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 Chalet

The surname Chalet originated in Switzerland during the late 15th century. It is derived from the Swiss French word "chalet," which means a wooden house or cottage commonly found in the Alpine regions. This type of rustic architecture was prevalent in the mountainous areas of Switzerland, France, and Italy.

The earliest known record of the name Chalet can be found in the Vaud Canton archives, where a farmer named Jean Chalet was mentioned in a land deed dated 1487. It is believed that the name was initially used as a descriptive term to identify individuals who lived in or owned these distinctive wooden chalets.

By the 16th century, the name had spread to other regions of Switzerland and neighboring countries. In the Savoie region of France, records from the 1550s mention a family named Chalet who owned a chalet-style farmhouse near the village of Chamonix.

One of the earliest documented individuals with the surname Chalet was Pierre Chalet, a Swiss woodcarver born in 1612 in the village of Grindelwald. He was renowned for his intricate carvings that adorned the chalets and churches in the Bernese Oberland region.

In the 18th century, a notable figure with the surname Chalet was Jacques Chalet (1725-1802), a Swiss architect who specialized in designing traditional chalet-style buildings. He is credited with popularizing the chalet architectural style beyond the Alps and introducing it to other parts of Europe.

Another prominent individual was Marie-Louise Chalet (1808-1892), a Swiss writer and poet from the Canton of Vaud. She wrote extensively about the rural life and customs of the Swiss Alps, and her works helped to promote the romanticized image of the chalet as a symbol of Swiss cultural identity.

In the 20th century, one of the most famous bearers of the surname was Roger Chalet (1921-2005), a Swiss professional alpine skier and Olympic medalist. He won the gold medal in the downhill event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Chalet

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!