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

Duell, 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 Duell surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Duell in America

Duell is the 12627th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Duell surname appeared 2,451 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 Duell.

We can also compare 2010 data for Duell 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 Duell

The surname Duell has its origins in the German states, emerging sometime in the late medieval period around the 14th or 15th century. It is believed to have derived from the Middle High German word "duellen", which means "to endure" or "to suffer". The name may have been given to someone who had endured hardship or adversity.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the historical records of the city of Frankfurt am Main, where a certain Johannes Duell was mentioned in a document from 1492. The name also appears in various church records and tax rolls from that era in other parts of Germany.

In the 16th century, the surname Duell began to spread beyond the German states. In England, a variant spelling, "Duell", can be found in parish records from the late 1500s, likely brought over by German immigrants or settlers. One notable bearer of this name was Sir Thomas Duell (1615-1687), an English politician and Member of Parliament for Great Marlow.

The name Duell has also been associated with several notable figures throughout history. In the 18th century, a French military officer named Jean-Baptiste Duell (1726-1807) served in the Seven Years' War and later became a general under Napoleon Bonaparte. Another bearer of the name was the German-American painter and lithographer, Louis Duell (1816-1886), who was known for his landscape paintings of the American West.

In the 19th century, the name Duell gained prominence in the literary world with the British author and critic, Prentice Duell (1839-1902), who wrote extensively on poetry and literature. Around the same time, a German-American industrialist named Otto Duell (1848-1920) made his mark in the manufacturing sector, founding the Duell Manufacturing Company in Chicago.

One of the most famous bearers of the surname Duell was the American actor and comedian, Charles Duell (1899-1986), who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 20th century. He is perhaps best known for his role as the character Uncle Charlie in the popular sitcom "My Three Sons".

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Duell

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

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

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

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