2000
#11,012
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,649
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.98
Rare Last name
Reichel
A German topographic surname referring to someone living near a small stream or brook.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,728 Americans carry the last name Reichel. That puts it at #12,454 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.80 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 125,643 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Reichel surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.7K
1 in 125,643
Census rank
#12,454
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,379 bearers of the surname Reichel in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.80 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12454th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Reichel, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Reichel
The surname Reichel originated in Germany during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German word "reich," meaning rich or wealthy, and likely referred to someone who was prosperous or lived in a prosperous region. The name was initially found in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Reichel appears in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Sancti Petri Erfordensis, a 12th-century manuscript from the Erfurt region of Thuringia, Germany. This document mentions a "Reicherus de Scongerode" in 1155, indicating the presence of the surname or a variant thereof in that area during that time period.
Over the centuries, the surname Reichel has been found in various historical records and documents across Germany. For example, in the late 16th century, Johannes Reichel was a Protestant theologian and professor at the University of Tübingen. He was born in 1554 and died in 1608.
Another notable person with the surname Reichel was Johann Gottfried Reichel, a German composer and organist from the 18th century. He was born in 1727 in Gotha, Thuringia, and is known for his works in the Baroque style.
In the 19th century, Carl Reichel was a prominent German-American architect who designed several notable buildings in the United States, including the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. He was born in 1833 in Tharand, Saxony, and emigrated to the United States in the 1850s.
The surname Reichel has also been associated with places in Germany, such as the town of Reichelsheim in Hesse, which likely derived its name from the presence of people with the surname Reichel in the area.
Another individual worth mentioning is Friedrich Reichel, a German mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1796 to 1876. He made significant contributions to the study of comets and asteroids, and a crater on the Moon is named after him.
While the surname Reichel has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to migration and immigration. However, its origins and historical significance remain firmly grounded in the regions of southern and central Germany, where it first emerged and flourished.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reichel
Among Census respondents with the surname Reichel, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Reichel bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Reichel surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.6% · 2,178
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 83
- Two or more races3.4% · 82
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 24
- Black or African American0.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Reichel
Reichel appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#11,736
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,670
+21 bearers (+0.8%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Down 724 places
2020
#12,454
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,379
-291 bearers (-10.9%)
Per 100,000 0.80
Rank movement Down 718 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,012 | 2,649 | 0.98 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,736 | 2,670 | 0.91 | +21 bearers (+0.8%) | Down 724 places |
| 2020 | #12,454 | 2,379 | 0.80 | -291 bearers (-10.9%) | Down 718 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Reichel surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #11,736 | #12,454 | -6.1% |
| Count | 2,670 | 2,379 | -10.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.91 | 0.80 | -12.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Reichel bearers went from 2,670 to 2,379 (-10.9% change). The surname moved down 718 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,736 to #12,454.
FAQ
Reichel surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Reichel?
Name Census estimates that about 2,728 living Americans carry the surname Reichel. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 125,643 residents.
How common is Reichel?
Reichel ranks #12,454 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.80 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,379 people with the surname Reichel. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,728), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.8 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.80 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Reichel.
Has Reichel become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Reichel went from 2,670 recorded bearers to 2,379. That is a decrease of 291 (-10.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,736 to #12,454.
What does the Census say about the background of Reichel?
Among Census respondents with the surname Reichel, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Reichel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.6% (2,178 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Reichel appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.6%), Hispanic (3.5%), Two or More Races (3.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Reichel (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Reichel mean?
A German topographic surname referring to someone living near a small stream or brook. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Reichel (0.80 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Reichel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.