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

Fellers, 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 Fellers surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fellers in America

Fellers is the 12426th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fellers surname appeared 2,501 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 Fellers.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fellers 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 Fellers

The surname Fellers is believed to have originated in Germany, with the earliest records dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the German word "feller," which means "to fell" or "to cut down." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational surname referring to someone who worked as a woodcutter or logger.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fellers can be found in the town records of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a town in Bavaria, Germany. In a document from 1587, a man named Hans Fellers is mentioned as a resident of the town.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Fellers surname began to spread across various regions of Germany, with families bearing this name settling in areas such as Saxony, Hesse, and Rhineland-Palatinate. Some variations in spelling, such as Feller and Fellers, were also common during this period.

In the late 18th century, a notable figure with the surname Fellers was Johann Fellers (1738-1805), a German mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics and is known for his work on the calculation of cometary orbits.

Another historical figure with the Fellers surname was Wilhelm Fellers (1819-1899), a German-American engineer and entrepreneur. He immigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century and established a successful engineering firm in Chicago, Illinois.

As the Fellers family spread across Europe and eventually to other parts of the world, the name evolved and took on various forms. In the Netherlands, for example, the surname is sometimes spelled as Velders, which is likely a variation of the German Fellers.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Fellers surname in the United States can be traced back to the late 18th century, with the arrival of German immigrants to Pennsylvania. A notable American with this surname was John Fellers (1819-1896), a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for his bravery in battle.

In the 19th century, the Fellers surname also appeared in various parts of England, possibly due to German immigrants settling in the country. One notable figure from this period was William Fellers (1832-1912), a British architect who designed several churches and public buildings in London.

Throughout history, the Fellers surname has been associated with various occupations and professions, from mathematicians and engineers to soldiers and architects. While the name may have originated as an occupational surname for woodcutters, it has since evolved and spread across different regions, reflecting the diverse histories and experiences of those who bear this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fellers

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

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

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

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