Mahl last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Mahl

A German surname derived from the word for "mill".

Mahl, 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 Mahl surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mahl in America

Mahl is the 28729th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mahl surname appeared 829 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 Mahl.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mahl 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 28729 26587 7.74%
Count 829 862 -3.90%
Proportion per 100k 0.28 0.32 -13.33%

The history of the last name Mahl

The surname Mahl originated in Germany, likely emerging in the early medieval period around the 9th or 10th century. It is derived from the Old German word "mahl," which means "blemish" or "mark." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone with a distinctive physical characteristic or birthmark.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mahl can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, dating back to the 12th century. This indicates that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.

During the Middle Ages, the Mahl surname was particularly prevalent in the areas of modern-day Bavaria and Saxony, where variants like "Mahle" and "Mahler" were also commonly found. Some records from that era mention individuals with the name, such as Johannes Mahl, a landowner in Nuremberg in the 14th century.

As the name spread across Germany and Europe, it took on various spellings and forms, including "Mael," "Maehle," and "Mahler." These variations likely reflect regional dialects and linguistic evolutions over time.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the Mahl surname was Michael Mahl, a Protestant theologian and reformer born in Nuremberg in 1518. He played a role in the Reformation movement and wrote several religious texts.

Another prominent individual with the Mahl name was Johann Baptist Mahl, a German painter and engraver who lived from 1677 to 1751. He is known for his religious artworks and portraits, some of which can still be found in churches and museums across Europe.

The Mahl surname also has a connection to certain place names, such as the village of Mählen in Saxony, which likely derived its name from the same linguistic roots as the surname.

Other notable individuals with the Mahl surname include Johann Konrad Mahl (1705-1782), a German architect and builder; Wilhelm Mahl (1796-1869), a German-American writer and historian; and Karl Mahl (1835-1904), a German philosopher and educator.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mahl

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

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 Mahl was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 92.76% 769
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.93% 16
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.81% 15
Hispanic Origin 2.29% 19

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 Mahl has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 92.76% 92.92% -0.17%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.93% 1.97% -2.05%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.81% 2.44% -29.65%
Hispanic 2.29% 1.51% 41.05%

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

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

Reference this page

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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!

"Mahl last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on May 3, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/mahl-surname-popularity/.

"Mahl last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/mahl-surname-popularity/. Accessed 3 May, 2025

Mahl last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/mahl-surname-popularity/.

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