2010
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Honshell
An English surname possibly derived from a place name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Honshell. That puts it at #154,755 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,929,524 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Honshell 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
117
1 in 2,929,524
Census rank
#154,755
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
102
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 102 bearers of the surname Honshell in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154755th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Honshell, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Honshell
The surname Honshell is believed to have originated in Germany during the late Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Old German words "hune" meaning "bear" and "schell" meaning "loud" or "resonant". Thus, the name may have originally referred to someone with a booming voice or a loud, bear-like demeanor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a 14th-century manuscript from the town of Trier, where a man named Johannes Hunschell is mentioned as a local merchant. This spelling variation suggests that the name may have initially been pronounced similarly to "Hunshill" or "Hunshell" before evolving into its modern form.
In the 16th century, the Honshell name appears to have spread to other parts of central Europe. A notable figure from this period was Matthias Honschell, a Protestant reformer and theologian born in Nuremberg in 1532. He was a vocal critic of the Catholic Church and played a role in the spread of Lutheranism in Germany.
By the 17th century, there are records of Honshells living in the Low Countries. In 1643, a man named Pieter Honshell was listed as a merchant in the city of Amsterdam. Around the same time, the name also appears in various Dutch colonial records from the East Indies (now Indonesia).
Moving into the 18th century, the Honshell surname can be found in areas of modern-day Poland and Austria. One noteworthy individual was Karl Honshell, a Viennese composer born in 1772 who wrote several operas and symphonic works that were popular in their time.
In the 19th century, there are instances of the Honshell name appearing in North America, likely due to immigration from Germany and other parts of Europe. One such example is Joseph Honshell, a farmer who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1840s after leaving the region of Alsace (then part of France).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Honshell
Among Census respondents with the surname Honshell, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Honshell 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 Honshell surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.1% · 95
- Two or more races4.9% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Honshell
Honshell appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-6 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 3,223 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -6 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 3,223 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 Honshell 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 | #151,532 | #154,755 | -2.1% |
| Count | 108 | 102 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Honshell bearers went from 108 to 102 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 3,223 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #154,755.
FAQ
Honshell surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Honshell?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Honshell. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Honshell?
Honshell ranks #154,755 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 102 people with the surname Honshell. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (117), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Honshell.
Has Honshell become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Honshell went from 108 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 6 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Honshell?
Among Census respondents with the surname Honshell, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.9%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Honshell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.1% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Honshell appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.1%), Two or More Races (4.9%), Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Honshell (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 Honshell mean?
An English surname possibly derived from a place name. 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 Honshell (0.03 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 people are called Honshell?
If you just want to know how common the surname Honshell is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.