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

Engel, 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 Engel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Engel in America

Engel is the 1644th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Engel surname appeared 21,933 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Engel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Engel 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 Engel

The surname Engel is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "engel," which means "angel." This surname likely emerged in the medieval period, possibly as an occupational name for someone who played the role of an angel in religious plays or ceremonies, or as a nickname for someone perceived as having angelic qualities.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Engel can be found in various German regions, such as Bavaria and Saxony, dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. In some cases, the name may have originated from place names like Engelskirchen, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, or Engelsdorf, a village in Saxony.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Engel was Hans Engel, a German painter and engraver who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. His works, including religious paintings and woodcuts, can be found in various German museums and collections.

Another notable figure with the surname Engel was Samuel Engel, a Swiss philosopher and writer who lived from 1702 to 1784. He was known for his works on aesthetics and was a prominent figure in the Enlightenment movement.

In the 19th century, Johann Jakob Engel (1741-1802) was a prominent German playwright and literary critic. He played a significant role in the development of German drama and was a influential figure in the Sturm und Drang movement.

The surname Engel also has connections to the world of science. Ernst Engel (1821-1896) was a German statistician and economist who formulated the Engel curve, a principle related to household expenditure patterns.

Another notable bearer of the surname was Johann Friedrich Engel (1765-1827), a German writer and historian who wrote extensively on the history of philosophy and literature.

While these are just a few examples, the surname Engel has been present throughout various periods of German history, and its bearers have made significant contributions in fields such as art, literature, philosophy, and science.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Engel

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Engel, 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!