Explore the Family Name Akel

The meaning of Akel

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name ʿĀqil ‘wise, intelligent, prudent’ (see Akil). Some characteristic forenames: Arabic/Muslim Kerim, Sami, Hani, Hisham, Karim, Maher, Mohamed, Musa, Najib, Naser, Nuha.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Akel in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Akel increased from 2000 to 2010. In the year 2000, Akel was ranked as the 36,531st most popular surname, with a count of 578 occurrences. By 2010, it had risen in rank to become the 33,941st most common surname and the count had increased by almost 16% to reach 670 occurrences. The proportion per 100,000 people also saw a rise of approximately 9.52%, indicating that this surname became gradually more prevalent within the population over this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#36,531	#33,941	7.09%
Count	578	670	15.92%
Proportion per 100k	0.21	0.23	9.52%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Akel

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census indicates that individuals with the surname Akel have primarily identified as White in both 2000 and 2010, with an increase of 8.42% over this period. Notably, there was a significant decrease of 85.64% in the proportion identifying with two or more races. Over the same period, identification as Hispanic increased by 42.18%, while identification as Black more than doubled with a 104.21% increase. No data for identification as Asian/Pacific Islander was available for 2010, and no individuals identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	82.87%	89.85%	8.42%
Hispanic	2.94%	4.18%	42.18%
Black	1.9%	3.88%	104.21%
Two or More Races	11.42%	1.64%	-85.64%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.87%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%