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

Helsel, 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 Helsel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Helsel in America

Helsel is the 8986th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Helsel surname appeared 3,641 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 Helsel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Helsel 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 Helsel

The surname HELSEL is of German origin, arising in the 14th century from the region of Bavaria. It is derived from the Old High German words "hel" meaning "bright" and "sel" meaning "dwelling" or "house." The name likely referred to someone who lived in a bright or sunny home.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the HELSEL name appears in the town records of Augsburg, Bavaria in 1382, where a Johann Helsel is listed as a merchant. Another early reference is found in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of Nuremberg from 1406, mentioning a Hans Helsel.

The name can also be traced to the village of Helsell in Northumberland, England, likely brought there by German immigrants in the 16th century. An entry in the Northumberland Parish Records of 1583 notes a William Helsell.

Notable individuals with the HELSEL surname include Johann Helsel (1642-1712), a German composer and organist who served at the court of the Elector of Bavaria. In England, Sir Thomas Helsell (1693-1756) was a prominent landowner and Member of Parliament for Northumberland.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded HELSELS was Johannes Helsel, who arrived in Pennsylvania from Germany in 1749. His descendant, John Helsel (1810-1891), was a farmer and businessman in Ohio. Another American HELSEL of note was Joseph Helsel (1832-1909), a Union Army soldier during the Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Other notable HELSELS throughout history include the German artist Hans Helsel (1870-1938), known for his landscape paintings, and Margaret Helsel (1901-1989), an American writer and educator who published numerous books on literature and poetry.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Helsel

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

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

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

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