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

Vogel, 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 Vogel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vogel in America

Vogel is the 1153rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vogel surname appeared 30,470 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 10 people would have the surname Vogel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vogel 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 Vogel

The surname Vogel is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "vogel," meaning "bird." This name likely originated as a descriptive surname, possibly given to someone who had a bird-like appearance, behavior, or occupation related to birds.

The earliest recorded instances of the Vogel surname can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany, such as Bavaria and Saxony. In the medieval period, the name appeared in various spellings, including Voghel, Vogl, and Fogel.

One of the earliest known bearers of the Vogel surname was Heinrich Vogel, a German cleric and scholar who lived in the late 13th century. He served as the Provost of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Bamberg and was known for his writings on ecclesiastical law.

In the 15th century, the Vogel name was found in several historical records, including the Berne Shilling Book, a tax register from the city of Berne, Switzerland, which listed several individuals with the surname Vogel.

During the 16th century, the Vogel family gained prominence in the town of Nuremberg, where several members were successful merchants and artisans. One notable figure was Georg Vogel, a skilled goldsmith and engraver who lived from 1512 to 1568.

In the 17th century, Johannes Vogel (1589-1663) was a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry. He was also a professor at the University of Hamburg and published several works on mathematics and astronomy.

Another notable bearer of the Vogel surname was Christian Leberecht Vogel (1759-1789), a German writer and poet who was part of the Sturm und Drang literary movement. He is best known for his collection of poems titled "Idyllen" (Idylls).

Throughout the centuries, the Vogel surname has been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Vogelsang (meaning "bird's song"), Vogelsberg (meaning "bird's mountain"), and Vogelherd (meaning "bird's hearth").

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vogel

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!