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

Mitchel, 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 Mitchel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mitchel in America

Mitchel is the 6151st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mitchel surname appeared 5,570 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 Mitchel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mitchel 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 Mitchel

The surname Mitchel derives from the medieval English given name Michael, which in turn comes from the Hebrew name Mikhael, meaning "who is like God?". It is believed to have originated in England, where it first appeared as Michel in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest.

In its earliest forms, the name was often spelled Michell, Mitchill, or Mitchel, with the latter spelling becoming more prevalent over time. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which lists a landowner named Michel in Somerset.

During the Middle Ages, the name Mitchel was particularly common in the counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk. This is evidenced by various historical records, such as the Pipe Rolls of 1166, which mention a William Michell from Lincolnshire.

As the name spread across Britain, it also took on various localized spellings and forms, such as Michell in the north of England and Mitchill in Scotland. These variations often reflected local dialects and pronunciation patterns.

Notable individuals with the surname Mitchel throughout history include John Mitchel (1815-1875), an Irish nationalist and political journalist who was a leader of the Young Ireland movement. Another prominent figure was Sir Andrew Mitchel (1457-1528), a Scottish landowner and military commander who served as Lord Chancellor of Scotland under King James IV.

Other historical figures bearing the name include:

• Samuel Augustus Mitchel (1805-1861), an American astronomer and lawyer.
• Maria Mitchel (1818-1889), an American astronomer and educator, the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer.
• John Mitchel (1733-1818), an Irish Presbyterian minister and philosopher.
• Sir John Mitchel (1690-1768), a British diplomat and politician who served as Ambassador to Prussia.

The Mitchel surname has also been associated with various place names over the centuries, such as Mitcheldean in Gloucestershire and Mitchelmersh in Hampshire, both of which likely derived from individuals bearing the name who lived in or owned land in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mitchel

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Mitchel, 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!