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

Mengel, 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 Mengel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mengel in America

Mengel is the 13418th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mengel surname appeared 2,271 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Mengel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mengel 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 Mengel

The surname Mengel is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "menger," which means "trader" or "merchant." It is believed to have originated in the 14th or 15th century in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, where it was commonly used as an occupational surname for individuals involved in trade or commerce.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Mengel surname can be found in the city records of Nuremberg, Germany, dating back to the late 15th century. In these records, a merchant named Hans Mengel is mentioned as a prominent figure in the city's trade guilds.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Mengel name appeared in various historical documents across Germany, including church records, tax registers, and property deeds. Notable individuals bearing this surname include Johann Mengel (1592-1670), a German composer and organist who served at the court of the Elector of Saxony, and Christoph Mengel (1630-1698), a Lutheran theologian and author from Nuremberg.

The Mengel surname also has ties to certain place names in Germany. For example, the village of Mengelskirchen, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, is believed to have derived its name from the Mengel family, who were prominent landowners in the area during the Middle Ages.

As the Mengel family spread across Europe, the surname underwent various spelling variations, such as Mengele, Menghel, and Mengler. One infamous bearer of this name was Josef Mengele (1911-1979), the Nazi physician known as the "Angel of Death" for his role in conducting inhumane experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.

Other notable individuals with the Mengel surname include Johann Georg Mengel (1767-1825), a German botanist and naturalist who studied the flora of Brazil, and Oskar Mengel (1884-1952), a German politician and member of the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic.

Overall, the surname Mengel has a rich history rooted in the German tradition of occupational surnames, and it has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including merchants, musicians, theologians, scientists, and politicians.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mengel

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

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

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

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