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

Schnabel, 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 Schnabel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Schnabel in America

Schnabel is the 10365th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Schnabel surname appeared 3,110 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 Schnabel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Schnabel 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 Schnabel

The surname Schnabel has its origins in Germany, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German word "schnabel," which means "beak" or "bill." This name was likely given to someone who had a distinctive nose shape resembling a bird's beak.

The earliest recorded instances of the Schnabel surname can be found in various medieval German records and documents. One notable example is Johannes Schnabel, a 14th-century merchant from Nuremberg, whose name appears in local trade records from the year 1372.

Throughout history, the Schnabel name has been associated with several notable individuals. One such figure is Johann Gottfried Schnabel (1692-1768), a German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor of law at the University of Leipzig.

Another prominent bearer of this surname was Kaspar Schnabel (1636-1692), a German composer and organist who worked as the Kapellmeister (music director) at the court of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.

In the realm of literature, Johann Gottfried Schnabel (1677-1744) was a German novelist and satirist known for his picaresque novel "Die Insel Felsenburg" (The Island of Felsenburg), which was published in 1731.

The Schnabel name has also been associated with various locations and place names throughout Germany. For example, Schnabelwaid is a small town in the district of Bayreuth, Bavaria, which likely derives its name from the German words "schnabel" (beak) and "wald" (forest).

It is worth noting that variations in spelling, such as Schnabele and Schnabels, have also been recorded throughout history, reflecting the regional dialects and language variations within Germany.

While the Schnabel surname is not as common today as it once was, it continues to hold historical significance as a legacy of Germany's rich cultural and linguistic heritage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Schnabel

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

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

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

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