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

Kessel, 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 Kessel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kessel in America

Kessel is the 6777th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kessel surname appeared 4,976 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Kessel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kessel 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 Kessel

The surname Kessel originated in Germany and the Netherlands. It is derived from the Middle Low German word 'kessel', meaning a kettle or cauldron. The name likely referred to an occupation involving metalworking or perhaps a place where kettles or cauldrons were made or sold.

Kessel is an ancient surname dating back to the 13th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in the town of Gouda in the Netherlands, where a man named Wouter Willemszoon Kessel was mentioned in records from 1296. In Germany, the name appeared in various forms such as Kesseler, Kessler, and Kesselmann in the 14th and 15th centuries.

The Kessel name has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Reinier Kessel, a Dutch Golden Age painter born in Amsterdam in 1623. He was known for his still life paintings and portraits. Another notable bearer of the name was Ferdinand Kessel, a German-born American architect who lived from 1835 to 1892 and designed several prominent buildings in New York City.

In the 20th century, the Kessel name gained prominence with Joseph Kessel, a French novelist and journalist born in 1898. He is best known for his novel 'The Lion' and his reportage from the Russian Revolution. Another noteworthy figure was Joseph Kessel Jr., an American film producer and screenwriter born in 1923, who worked on several notable films including 'The Wiz' and 'The Bionic Woman'.

One of the most famous individuals with the Kessel surname was Hans Kessel, a German artist and illustrator born in 1876. He is renowned for his illustrations in children's books and magazines, particularly his work for the German magazine 'Die Gartenlaube'. His intricate and whimsical illustrations have left a lasting impact on the world of children's literature.

While the Kessel name has its roots in Germany and the Netherlands, it has since spread to other parts of the world, with bearers of the name found in various countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kessel

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!