2000
#43,290
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 470
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.17
Very Rare Last name
Diesel
A surname denoting an engine powered by compression ignition of fuel.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 599 Americans carry the last name Diesel. That puts it at #44,341 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.17 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 572,211 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Diesel 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
599
1 in 572,211
Census rank
#44,341
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
522
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 522 bearers of the surname Diesel in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.17 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 44341st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Diesel, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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In the 16th century, the name Diesel appeared in various historical documents across southern Germany, including church records and municipal archives.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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Diesel
Among Census respondents with the surname Diesel, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Diesel 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 Diesel surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.0% · 470
- Two or more races3.8% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 18
- Black or African American1.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Diesel
Diesel 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
#66,754
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 296
-174 bearers (-37.0%)
Per 100,000 0.10
Rank movement Down 23,464 places
2020
#44,341
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 522
+226 bearers (+76.4%)
Per 100,000 0.17
Rank movement Up 22,413 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #43,290 | 470 | 0.17 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #66,754 | 296 | 0.10 | -174 bearers (-37.0%) | Down 23,464 places |
| 2020 | #44,341 | 522 | 0.17 | +226 bearers (+76.4%) | Up 22,413 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 Diesel 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 | #66,754 | #44,341 | 33.6% |
| Count | 296 | 522 | 76.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.10 | 0.17 | 74.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Diesel bearers went from 296 to 522 (+76.4% change). The surname moved up 22,413 positions in the national ranking, going from #66,754 to #44,341.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Diesel
FAQ
Diesel surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Diesel?
Name Census estimates that about 599 living Americans carry the surname Diesel. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 572,211 residents.
How common is Diesel?
Diesel ranks #44,341 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.17 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 522 people with the surname Diesel. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (599), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.17 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.17 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 Diesel.
Has Diesel become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Diesel went from 296 recorded bearers to 522. That is an increase of 226 (+76.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #66,754 to #44,341.
What does the Census say about the background of Diesel?
Among Census respondents with the surname Diesel, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Diesel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (470 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Diesel appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.0%), Two or More Races (3.8%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Diesel (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 Diesel mean?
A surname denoting an engine powered by compression ignition of fuel. 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 Diesel (0.17 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 many Americans have the surname Diesel?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.