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

Panchal, 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 Panchal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Panchal in America

Panchal is the 16315th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Panchal surname appeared 1,766 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 Panchal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Panchal 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 Panchal

The surname Panchal is of Indian origin, deriving from the Sanskrit word "Pancha" meaning five, and "Ala" meaning province or territory. This suggests that the name originates from the region known as the Panchalas, which comprised five territories in ancient India. The Panchalas were an influential confederation of tribes mentioned in several ancient Indian texts, including the epic Mahabharata, where they played a pivotal role.

The Panchal region is believed to have encompassed parts of modern-day Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states in North India. The name is thought to have originated around the 6th century BCE, during the later Vedic period in Indian history. Early references to the name can be found in the Vedas, the oldest Hindu scriptures, and the Puranas, ancient Indian literature detailing the histories of dynasties and kingdoms.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Panchal was Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandava princes in the Mahabharata epic, which is dated to around the 8th or 9th century BCE. Another notable figure was King Drupada, the ruler of the Panchalas, who was Draupadi's father and a key character in the epic.

In the 16th century, the Panchal Rajputs were a prominent ruling clan in the region of present-day Uttar Pradesh. They claimed descent from the ancient Panchalas and ruled over several princely states, such as Bhadawar and Dataganj. One renowned member of this clan was Raja Bir Bhadra Panchal, who lived in the late 16th century and was a valiant warrior and ruler.

During the Mughal era in India, from the 16th to the 19th century, several individuals with the surname Panchal held influential positions in the imperial court and administration. One notable example is Panchal Beg, a high-ranking official under the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the late 16th century.

In more recent times, Ramesh Chandra Panchal (1925-2003) was a renowned Indian physician and medical educator who served as the director of the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. He was instrumental in shaping medical education and healthcare policies in India.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Panchal

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

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

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

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