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

Thole, 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 Thole surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Thole in America

Thole is the 17521st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Thole surname appeared 1,608 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 Thole.

We can also compare 2010 data for Thole 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 Thole

The surname Thole originated in the northern German region of Holstein near the border with Denmark. It dates back to the 13th century and is derived from the Old Frisian word "thol" meaning "hole" or "hollow." This suggests the name may have initially referred to someone living near a hole or depression in the landscape.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the town records of Itzehoe, Holstein in 1298, where a man named Gherd Thole is mentioned. The name is also found in various medieval manuscripts and records from this region during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Some believe the Thole name may be related to the Old Saxon word "thol" meaning "post" or "stake," potentially referring to an occupation involved with fences or boundaries. However, the connection to the Frisian "thol" seems more likely given the geographic origin.

Interestingly, there is a small village called Thole in the Wendland region of Lower Saxony, Germany, which may have been named after an early bearer of the surname or vice versa. The earliest known spelling of this place name was Tholle in 1324.

Notable individuals with the surname Thole throughout history include Hans Thole (c.1495-1569), a German painter and engraver from Nuremberg known for his religious works. Johann Thole (1619-1677) was a German lawyer and author from Lubeck. Carl Thole (1882-1917) was a German World War I fighter pilot credited with 33 aerial victories before being killed in action.

Other bearers of the name include Johann Andreas Thole (1642-1719), a German legal scholar and professor of law at the University of Leipzig, and Friedrich August Tholuck (1799-1877), a prominent German Protestant theologian and professor at the University of Halle.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Thole

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

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

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

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