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

Wentzell, 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 Wentzell surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wentzell in America

Wentzell is the 25187th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wentzell surname appeared 984 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Wentzell.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wentzell 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 Wentzell

The surname Wentzell has its origins in Germany, tracing back to the early 15th century. Originally spelled as "Wentzel" or "Wenzel," it likely derived from the medieval German name "Wenzelaus," which itself stemmed from the Slavic name "Ventseslav," meaning "renowned glory" or "great glory."

This surname first emerged in the regions of Saxony and Silesia, where it was commonly associated with families residing in or near the town of Wenzeldorf (present-day Wędzerzyn, Poland). Records from the 1400s mention individuals bearing this name, such as Hans Wentzel, a merchant from Leipzig, and Jurgen Wentzell, a landowner in Görlitz.

One of the earliest known references to the Wentzell name can be found in the Görlitz Burgerbuch (Citizen's Book) of 1487, which lists a certain Nickel Wentzell as a resident of the city. This document serves as an important historical record of the surname's existence in that era.

During the 16th century, the Wentzell surname began to spread throughout German-speaking territories, with notable individuals including Johann Wentzell (1523-1591), a Protestant theologian and author from Nuremberg, and Heinrich Wentzell (1560-1629), a renowned architect and master builder who worked on various ecclesiastical structures in Saxony.

As time progressed, the Wentzell surname made its way to other parts of Europe, with some families emigrating to countries like England, France, and the Netherlands. One notable example is Willem Wentzell (1657-1723), a Dutch painter and engraver who gained recognition for his landscape and seascape works.

In the 18th century, several Wentzell families relocated to the Americas, with some settling in regions like Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. One of the earliest documented instances of the name in the New World is that of Johann Christoph Wentzell (1712-1785), a German immigrant who established a successful farming operation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, individuals with the Wentzell surname continued to make their mark in various fields, such as Axel Wentzell (1825-1892), a Swedish-American inventor and entrepreneur known for his contributions to the development of early typewriters, and Karl Wentzell (1874-1947), a German-born American architect who designed numerous notable buildings in San Francisco.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wentzell

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

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

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

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