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

Zoeller, 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 Zoeller surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zoeller in America

Zoeller is the 15033rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zoeller surname appeared 1,965 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Zoeller.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zoeller 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 Zoeller

The surname Zoeller is of German origin, deriving from the Old German word "zoll," which referred to a customs house or tollbooth. This suggests that the earliest bearers of this name may have been associated with the collection of tolls or customs duties.

The name first emerged in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, during the medieval period. Some of the earliest recorded variations of the spelling include Zöller, Zöllner, and Zollner.

One of the earliest known references to the name Zoeller can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Mellicensis, a medieval cartulary from the Melk Abbey in Lower Austria, which dates back to the 12th century. This document mentions individuals with the surname Zollner.

In the 13th century, records from the city of Augsburg in Bavaria mention a merchant named Heinrich Zollner, who was involved in the lucrative textile trade. This indicates that the Zoeller name had already established itself among the merchant and trading classes by this time.

During the 16th century, a notable individual bearing the Zoeller surname was Johannes Zöllner, a German theologian and reformer who lived from 1491 to 1548. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and authored several works on theology and biblical interpretation.

Another historical figure with the Zoeller name was Johann Philipp Zoeller, a German composer and organist who lived from 1666 to 1726. He is known for his contributions to the development of the North German organ school and his compositions for organ and other instruments.

In the 19th century, Johann Baptist Zoeller (1782-1848) was a German sculptor and educator who worked in the neoclassical style. He is particularly known for his sculptures adorning the Walhalla memorial near Regensburg, Bavaria.

The name Zoeller has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Zöllnitz, a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and Zöllnerhof, a village in Bavaria. These place names likely originated from the presence of tollbooths or customs houses in those locations.

While the Zoeller surname is predominantly found in Germany, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora, particularly to countries like the United States, where many German immigrants settled in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zoeller

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

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

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

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