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

Diesel, 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 Diesel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Diesel in America

Diesel is the 66754th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Diesel surname appeared 296 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 Diesel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Diesel 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 Diesel

The surname Diesel is of German origin and can be traced back to the Middle Ages, specifically the 14th century. It is believed to have originated in the region of Bavaria, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. The name is derived from the Old German word "disil," which means "thistle" or "prickly plant."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Diesel can be found in the Bavarian town of Augsburg, where a certain Hanns Diesel was mentioned in a tax record from 1387. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region at that time.

In the 16th century, the name Diesel appeared in various historical documents across southern Germany, including church records and municipal archives. One notable example is the record of a Johannes Diesel, born in 1521 in the village of Unterrieden, near Augsburg.

The Diesel surname is also associated with several place names in Germany, such as Dieslingen and Diesenbach, which may have contributed to the spread of the name across different regions.

As the centuries passed, the Diesel name gained prominence, and several individuals with this surname made significant contributions to various fields. One of the most famous bearers of the name is Rudolf Diesel, the German inventor and engineer who was born in 1858 in Paris, France, to Bavarian parents. He is best known for developing the diesel engine, which revolutionized the transportation industry.

Another notable figure was Wilhelm Diesel, a German industrialist born in 1879, who played a crucial role in the development and production of diesel engines for various applications, including locomotives and ships.

In the realm of literature, Hans Diesel, born in 1901 in Munich, was a renowned German novelist and playwright, known for his works exploring social and political themes of the 20th century.

The name Diesel also has connections to the world of sports. Karl Diesel, born in 1935 in Ludwigshafen, Germany, was a successful football player who represented West Germany in the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Finally, in the field of academia, Erich Diesel, born in 1920 in Berlin, was a respected physicist and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of quantum mechanics and relativity theory.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Diesel

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

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

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

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