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

Knechel, 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 Knechel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Knechel in America

Knechel is the 98982nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Knechel surname appeared 183 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 Knechel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Knechel 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 Knechel

The surname Knechel is of Germanic origin, specifically from the German language. It is believed to have originated in the region that is now modern-day Germany during the Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century.

The name Knechel is derived from the German word "Knecht," which means "servant" or "farmhand." This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname were likely servants or agricultural workers on estates or farms. It's possible that the name was initially used as a descriptive term for someone's occupation before becoming a hereditary surname.

In its earliest forms, the name may have been spelled differently, such as "Knechtel," "Knechtle," or "Knechtl," reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. These variants likely evolved into the modern spelling of "Knechel" over the centuries.

While there are no definitive historical records or manuscripts mentioning the name Knechel from its earliest origins, some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in German parish records and census documents from the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Knechel was Hans Knechel, born around 1520 in the German town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Another notable figure was Johann Knechel, a German scholar and theologian who lived from 1587 to 1636.

In the 18th century, there was a German military officer named Friedrich Knechel (1720-1789) who served in the Prussian army during the reign of Frederick the Great. Additionally, a German painter named Johann Michael Knechel (1735-1803) was known for his landscape and portrait works.

Another individual worth mentioning is Carl Knechel (1807-1879), a German-American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City, including the former St. Nicholas Hotel and the Old Masonic Hall.

As the surname spread beyond its German origins, it also appeared in other parts of Europe and eventually in various regions of the world due to immigration patterns. However, the name's roots can be traced back to its Germanic origins and the early occupational meaning associated with servants or farmhands.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Knechel

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

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

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

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