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

Tarbell, 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 Tarbell surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tarbell in America

Tarbell is the 17367th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tarbell surname appeared 1,626 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 Tarbell.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tarbell 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 Tarbell

The surname Tarbell has its origins in England, dating back to the 13th century. It is believed to have been derived from the Old English words "toer" and "belle," meaning "tar" and "well" or "spring," respectively. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a person living near a well or spring where tar was collected.

The name first appeared in historical records in the county of Essex, where it was spelled as "Tarbel" and "Tarbell." One of the earliest recorded instances is in the Hundred Rolls of Essex from 1274, which lists a Robert Tarbel.

In the 16th century, the Tarbell surname was also found in the neighboring county of Suffolk, where the spellings "Tarbole" and "Tarbull" were used. The Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk from 1524 mention a Thomas Tarbull.

During the 17th century, the name spread to other parts of England, including Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. The parish records of Grantham, Lincolnshire, from 1637 include the name of a John Tarbell, while the Yorkshire Visitation of 1665 mentions a family with the Tarbell surname.

One notable bearer of the name was Sir John Tarbell, a wealthy merchant and alderman of London in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was born in 1558 and served as Lord Mayor of London in 1628.

Another historically significant figure was Joseph Tarbell, an American historian and educator born in 1836. He served as the president of Tufts College (now Tufts University) from 1892 to 1901 and wrote several books on American history.

In the 19th century, the Tarbell surname gained prominence in the United States, particularly in the state of Pennsylvania. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Ida Minerva Tarbell, a pioneering American journalist and writer born in 1857. She is best known for her influential exposé on the Standard Oil Company, which helped to bring about the breakup of the monopoly.

Other notable individuals with the Tarbell surname include John Tarbell, an American architect born in 1833, who designed several prominent buildings in Boston, and Frank Bigelow Tarbell, an American academic and author born in 1853, who wrote extensively on Greek and Roman mythology.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tarbell

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

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

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

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