2000
#13,483
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,069
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.77
Rare Last name
Stenzel
German surname derived from a physical description meaning "small stalk" or "slender stem".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,561 Americans carry the last name Stenzel. That puts it at #13,131 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 133,836 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Stenzel 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
2.6K
1 in 133,836
Census rank
#13,131
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,233 bearers of the surname Stenzel in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13131st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Stenzel, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Stenzel
The surname Stenzel is of German origin, derived from the medieval personal name Stenzel, which is a diminutive form of the German name Stanislaus. The name Stanislaus itself is of Slavic origin, derived from the words "stan" meaning "glory" and "slav" meaning "glorious."
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Stenzel can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany, including Saxony, Silesia, and Brandenburg. It is believed that the name may have originally referred to individuals who lived in or near a place called Stenzelsdorf, which means "Stenzel's village" in German.
In the 14th century, the name Stenzel appears in several historical records, including the Denziger Stadtbuch, a chronicle of the city of Denzingen, where a certain Stenzel von Steinbach is mentioned as a landowner and nobleman.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Stenzel was Konrad Stenzel, a German knight and crusader who participated in the Sixth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1228-1229. He was born around 1200 and died in the mid-13th century.
Another notable bearer of the name was Johann Stenzel, a German historian and writer who lived from 1615 to 1677. He authored several works on the history of Silesia and is considered a pioneering figure in the study of regional history.
In the 18th century, Johann Christian Stenzel (1705-1773) was a German theologian and philosopher who served as a professor at the University of Leipzig. He was known for his work on the history of philosophy and his contributions to the Enlightenment movement.
The surname Stenzel has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Stenzelberg, a hill in the Erzgebirge region, and Stenzelhausen, a village in Baden-Württemberg.
During the 19th century, Gustav Stenzel (1826-1905) was a prominent German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor at the University of Berlin. He made significant contributions to the field of German civil law and is considered one of the most influential legal minds of his time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Stenzel
Among Census respondents with the surname Stenzel, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Stenzel 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 Stenzel surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 2,083
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 60
- Two or more races2.6% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 10
- Black or African American0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Stenzel
Stenzel 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
#18,128
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,536
-533 bearers (-25.8%)
Per 100,000 0.52
Rank movement Down 4,645 places
2020
#13,131
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,233
+697 bearers (+45.4%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Up 4,997 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,483 | 2,069 | 0.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #18,128 | 1,536 | 0.52 | -533 bearers (-25.8%) | Down 4,645 places |
| 2020 | #13,131 | 2,233 | 0.75 | +697 bearers (+45.4%) | Up 4,997 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 Stenzel 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 | #18,128 | #13,131 | 27.6% |
| Count | 1,536 | 2,233 | 45.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.52 | 0.75 | 43.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Stenzel bearers went from 1,536 to 2,233 (+45.4% change). The surname moved up 4,997 positions in the national ranking, going from #18,128 to #13,131.
FAQ
Stenzel surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Stenzel?
Name Census estimates that about 2,561 living Americans carry the surname Stenzel. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 133,836 residents.
How common is Stenzel?
Stenzel ranks #13,131 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.75 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 2,233 people with the surname Stenzel. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,561), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.75 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.75 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 Stenzel.
Has Stenzel become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Stenzel went from 1,536 recorded bearers to 2,233. That is an increase of 697 (+45.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #18,128 to #13,131.
What does the Census say about the background of Stenzel?
Among Census respondents with the surname Stenzel, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Stenzel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (2,083 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Stenzel appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Hispanic (2.7%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Stenzel (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 Stenzel mean?
German surname derived from a physical description meaning "small stalk" or "slender stem". 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 Stenzel (0.75 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 common is the surname Stenzel?
For a quick modern take, check how common the surname Stenzel is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.