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

Knippel, 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 Knippel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Knippel in America

Knippel is the 39212th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Knippel surname appeared 561 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 Knippel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Knippel 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 Knippel

The surname Knippel is of German origin, traced back to the regions of central and northern Germany during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old High German word "knipfel," which referred to a small knob or protrusion, likely describing a topographical feature or a person's physical characteristic.

The earliest known records of the name Knippel can be found in various German municipal archives dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. One notable mention is in the Stadtbuch von Mühlhausen, a civic record from the city of Mühlhausen in Thuringia, where a certain Hans Knippel is listed as a resident in the year 1387.

Another early reference to the name can be found in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of the town of Arnstadt in Thuringia, where a Johannes Knippel is recorded as having been born in 1492. These early records suggest that the name was initially concentrated in the central German regions of Thuringia and Saxony.

Over time, the name spread to other parts of Germany and beyond, with variations in spelling such as Knipfel, Knipell, and Knippele appearing in different regions. One notable bearer of the name was Johann Knippel (1605-1669), a German poet and dramatist from Saxony, known for his allegorical plays and religious poetry.

In the 18th century, the name made its way to other parts of Europe, with records showing individuals bearing the surname Knippel in areas such as the Netherlands and Switzerland. One noteworthy figure from this period was Johann Daniel Knippel (1754-1829), a Swiss painter and etcher known for his landscapes and architectural works.

As the name spread further, it also found its way to other parts of the world, particularly through German emigration. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Knippel was Johann Georg Knippel (1733-1813), a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century.

Other notable individuals with the surname Knippel throughout history include Theodor Knippel (1832-1894), a German architect and urban planner who worked on projects in Berlin and Hamburg, and Wilhelm Knippel (1890-1970), a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party who served in the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Knippel

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

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

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

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