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

Weil, 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 Weil surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Weil in America

Weil is the 5390th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Weil surname appeared 6,455 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Weil.

We can also compare 2010 data for Weil 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 Weil

The surname Weil is of German origin, derived from the Old German word "wil" meaning "will" or "desire". It is believed to have originated as a descriptive name for someone who was stubborn or strong-willed.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Weil can be traced back to the 12th century in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around the Black Forest and along the Rhine River. In historical records, the name is often found spelled in various ways, such as Weyl, Wiele, and Wiele.

One of the earliest known references to the name Weil is found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the 13th century, where a person named Heinricus Weil is mentioned in a land transaction.

In the 14th century, the name Weil appears in the Nuremberg Chronicles, a famous illustrated world history book published in 1493, suggesting that the name was well-established by that time.

Notable individuals with the surname Weil throughout history include Johann Weil (1458-1522), a German theologian and reformer who was a contemporary of Martin Luther. Another prominent figure was André Weil (1906-1998), a influential French mathematician known for his contributions to number theory and algebraic geometry.

Other notable Weils include Simone Weil (1909-1943), a French philosopher and activist who wrote extensively on topics such as social justice and spirituality. Gustav Weil (1808-1889) was a German-Jewish Orientalist and historian who made significant contributions to the study of Arabic literature and Islamic history.

In the realm of literature, the surname Weil is associated with the American author Simone Weil (1923-2017), who wrote several acclaimed novels exploring themes of identity and belonging.

While the name Weil is most commonly found in Germany and other parts of Central Europe, it has also spread to other regions through migration and has been adopted by families of diverse backgrounds over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Weil

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Weil, 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!