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

Kassel, 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 Kassel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kassel in America

Kassel is the 20697th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kassel surname appeared 1,278 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kassel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kassel 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 Kassel

The surname Kassel originated in Germany, specifically in the Hesse region, during the medieval period. It is derived from the place name "Kassel," a city located in central Germany, which itself comes from the Germanic words "kat" meaning "water" and "saliha" meaning "hall" or "public building."

The name Kassel is believed to have first appeared in official records and documents in the 13th century, as the city of Kassel gained prominence as a commercial and cultural center. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the chronicles of the Teutonic Knights, a German military order, from the year 1283.

In the 14th century, a notable figure named Heinrich von Kassel (1286-1356) was a prominent German clergyman and bishop of Merseburg. Another early bearer of the name was Johannes Kassel (1340-1410), a respected scholar and theologian who taught at the University of Prague.

During the Renaissance era, the Kassel surname continued to be associated with notable individuals. Hans Kassel (1492-1564) was a renowned German painter and engraver who worked in the Nuremberg tradition. His contemporary, Christoph Kassel (1505-1578), was a respected jurist and legal scholar who served as a councilor to the Prince-Elector of Saxony.

In the 17th century, the Kassel name gained further prominence with the birth of Friedrich Kassel (1620-1688), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics. His work was instrumental in laying the foundations for the development of calculus by Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

Another notable bearer of the surname was Johann Kassel (1654-1721), a German composer and organist who served as the court musician to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. His compositions for organ and harpsichord were highly regarded in his time and helped shape the development of Baroque music.

Throughout the centuries, the Kassel surname has been associated with various professions and fields, including academia, arts, sciences, and public service, reflecting the diverse contributions of its bearers to German society and culture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kassel

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

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

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

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