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

Wendel, 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 Wendel surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wendel in America

Wendel is the 6149th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wendel surname appeared 5,572 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 Wendel.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wendel 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 Wendel

The surname Wendel is of German origin, derived from the Old German personal name "Wendel" or "Wendelin." This name is a diminutive form of the Germanic name "Wendo," which means "Wend" or "Slav." The Wends were a Slavic people who inhabited parts of eastern Germany during the Middle Ages.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Wendel date back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around the Rhine River and the Alsace region. It was initially spelled as "Wendelin" or "Wendel," and later variations included "Wendel," "Wendell," and "Wendler."

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Wendel Hipler, a German poet and playwright who lived in the 15th century. Another notable figure was Wendel Dietrich, a German theologian and reformer who was born in 1495 and played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation.

In the 16th century, the surname Wendel was recorded in several German towns and villages, including Wendelsheim and Wendelstein, which may have influenced the name's development. These place names likely derived from the personal name Wendel or Wendelin.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname spread to other parts of Europe, particularly to the Netherlands and England, where it was sometimes anglicized to "Wendell." One prominent bearer of the name was the Dutch poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679), who is considered one of the greatest Dutch literary figures of the Golden Age.

Another notable individual with the surname Wendel was Johann Wendel (1619-1685), a German composer and organist who served at the court of the Elector of Saxony. In the 19th century, the name was associated with the Wendel family, a prominent steel manufacturing dynasty in France, with members such as François de Wendel (1774-1825) and Henri de Wendel (1805-1858).

Throughout its history, the surname Wendel has been borne by various individuals across different fields, including artists, writers, musicians, and industrialists, reflecting its Germanic roots and its spread across Europe over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wendel

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

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

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

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