2000
#10,843
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,698
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.00
Rare Last name
Weikel
Derived from the German word "weich," meaning soft or tender, likely referring to a mild-mannered person.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,839 Americans carry the last name Weikel. That puts it at #12,038 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.83 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 120,731 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Weikel 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
2.8K
1 in 120,731
Census rank
#12,038
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,476 bearers of the surname Weikel in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.83 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12038th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Weikel, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Weikel
The surname "WEIKEL" is of German origin, and its earliest known roots can be traced back to the 16th century in the regions of Bavaria and the Rhineland. The name is believed to be derived from the Old German word "weich," which means "soft" or "yielding," and may have been an occupational name given to someone who worked with soft materials or had a gentle demeanor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in a Bavarian church register from the year 1587, where a man named Hans Weikel is listed as a resident of the town of Regensburg. This early spelling variation, "Weikel," suggests that the name had already established itself in the region by that time.
In the 17th century, the name began to spread across other parts of Germany, with records showing individuals bearing the surname in cities like Hamburg and Berlin. This expansion likely occurred due to migration and the movement of people during that period.
During the 18th century, the Weikel surname found its way into historical records in the United States. One notable figure was Johann Georg Weikel, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1750s and became a prominent farmer and landowner in the area now known as Weikert, which is believed to have been named after him.
Another significant individual with the Weikel surname was Johann Adam Weikel, a Lutheran pastor who was born in Germany in 1754 and later emigrated to the United States, where he served congregations in Pennsylvania and Maryland until his death in 1830.
In the 19th century, the Weikel name continued to spread across various parts of Europe and North America. One noteworthy individual was Karl Friedrich Weikel, a German-American artist born in 1827 who became known for his landscape paintings and etchings depicting scenes from the American West.
Another prominent figure was William Weikel, a German-born American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio between 1885 and 1891.
As the 20th century approached, the Weikel surname could be found in various parts of the world, including individuals like Otto Weikel, a German architect and urban planner born in 1882, who was responsible for the design of several notable buildings in Berlin.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Weikel
Among Census respondents with the surname Weikel, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Weikel 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 Weikel surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 2,286
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 77
- Two or more races2.9% · 73
- Black or African American0.8% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Weikel
Weikel 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
#12,089
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,578
-120 bearers (-4.4%)
Per 100,000 0.87
Rank movement Down 1,246 places
2020
#12,038
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,476
-102 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Up 51 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,843 | 2,698 | 1.00 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,089 | 2,578 | 0.87 | -120 bearers (-4.4%) | Down 1,246 places |
| 2020 | #12,038 | 2,476 | 0.83 | -102 bearers (-4.0%) | Up 51 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 Weikel 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 | #12,089 | #12,038 | 0.4% |
| Count | 2,578 | 2,476 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.87 | 0.83 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Weikel bearers went from 2,578 to 2,476 (-4.0% change). The surname moved up 51 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,089 to #12,038.
FAQ
Weikel surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Weikel?
Name Census estimates that about 2,839 living Americans carry the surname Weikel. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 120,731 residents.
How common is Weikel?
Weikel ranks #12,038 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.83 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 2,476 people with the surname Weikel. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,839), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.83 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.83 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 Weikel.
Has Weikel become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Weikel went from 2,578 recorded bearers to 2,476. That is a decrease of 102 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #12,089 to #12,038.
What does the Census say about the background of Weikel?
Among Census respondents with the surname Weikel, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Weikel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (2,286 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Weikel appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (3.1%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Weikel (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 Weikel mean?
Derived from the German word "weich," meaning soft or tender, likely referring to a mild-mannered person. 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 Weikel (0.83 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 Weikel?
Want to know how many people have the surname Weikel? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.