2000
#38,833
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 535
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.20
Very Rare Last name
Goettel
A surname derived from the German 'Gott' meaning "God."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 553 Americans carry the last name Goettel. That puts it at #47,446 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 619,809 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Goettel 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
553
1 in 619,809
Census rank
#47,446
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
482
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 482 bearers of the surname Goettel in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 47446th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Goettel, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Goettel
The surname Goettel is of German origin and dates back to the late medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the German word "Gott" meaning God, and was likely originally a descriptive nickname or occupational name for someone who was deeply religious or worked in a religious profession.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the records of the city of Bamberg in Bavaria, where a certain Conradus Goettel is mentioned in a document from 1389. Another early reference is to a Hermannus Goettel from Cologne, who is listed in a tax register from 1431.
In the 16th century, the name appears to have spread to other regions of Germany, with records showing individuals with the surname Goettel in places like Leipzig, Dresden, and Frankfurt. During this time, variations in spelling such as Göttel, Göttl, and Gottl also began to emerge.
One notable bearer of the name was Johann Gottfried Goettel, a German composer and organist who lived from 1668 to 1723. He served as the court organist in Weissenfels and composed numerous works for organ and harpsichord.
Another individual of historical significance was the philosopher and theologian Friedrich Wilhelm Goettel, who was born in 1776 in Saxony and died in 1859. He was a prominent figure in the German Idealist movement and wrote extensively on metaphysics and the philosophy of religion.
In the 19th century, the Goettel surname can be found in various regions of Germany, as well as in areas with significant German immigration, such as parts of the United States and Canada. One noteworthy individual from this period was the American businessman and philanthropist John Goettel, who was born in 1844 in Pennsylvania and made his fortune in the mining industry.
Moving into the 20th century, a notable bearer of the Goettel name was the German-American artist and illustrator Walter Goettel, who was born in 1896 and spent much of his career working for various publications and advertising agencies in New York City.
Finally, it is worth mentioning the German scientist and engineer Erich Goettel, who lived from 1908 to 1989 and made significant contributions to the field of aerospace engineering, working for companies like Messerschmitt and NASA.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Goettel
Among Census respondents with the surname Goettel, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Goettel 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 Goettel surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.6% · 451
- Two or more races3.1% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
- Black or African American0.2% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Goettel
Goettel 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
#40,554
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 539
+4 bearers (+0.7%)
Per 100,000 0.18
Rank movement Down 1,721 places
2020
#47,446
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 482
-57 bearers (-10.6%)
Per 100,000 0.16
Rank movement Down 6,892 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #38,833 | 535 | 0.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #40,554 | 539 | 0.18 | +4 bearers (+0.7%) | Down 1,721 places |
| 2020 | #47,446 | 482 | 0.16 | -57 bearers (-10.6%) | Down 6,892 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 Goettel 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 | #40,554 | #47,446 | -17.0% |
| Count | 539 | 482 | -10.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.18 | 0.16 | -10.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Goettel bearers went from 539 to 482 (-10.6% change). The surname moved down 6,892 positions in the national ranking, going from #40,554 to #47,446.
FAQ
Goettel surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Goettel?
Name Census estimates that about 553 living Americans carry the surname Goettel. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 619,809 residents.
How common is Goettel?
Goettel ranks #47,446 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.16 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 482 people with the surname Goettel. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (553), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.16 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 Goettel.
Has Goettel become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Goettel went from 539 recorded bearers to 482. That is a decrease of 57 (-10.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #40,554 to #47,446.
What does the Census say about the background of Goettel?
Among Census respondents with the surname Goettel, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Goettel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.6% (451 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Goettel appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.6%), Two or More Races (3.1%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Goettel (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 Goettel mean?
A surname derived from the German 'Gott' meaning "God." 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 Goettel (0.16 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 Goettel?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.