Explore the Family Name Carrel

The meaning of Carrel

1. Irish and English: variant of Carrell. 2. French: from Old French quar(r)el, carrel ‘bolt (for a crossbow)’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of crossbow bolts or figuratively a nickname for a short, stout man (compare English Carrell). The word also meant ‘paving slab’, and so it could also have been a metonymic occupational name for a street layer.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Carrel has slightly decreased from 2000 to 2010. The rank of this surname fell from 24,615 in 2000 to 25,171 in 2010, a decrease of 2.26%. However, the count or total number of people with this surname increased from 951 to 985 within the same period, indicating a growth of 3.58%. Despite this increase, the proportion per 100,000 people dropped by 5.71%, falling from 0.35 to 0.33.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#24,615	#25,171	-2.26%
Count	951	985	3.58%
Proportion per 100k	0.35	0.33	-5.71%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Carrel

The same census data also reveals changes in the ethnic identity associated with the Carrel surname. In 2000, 93.9% of carriers identified as White, which decreased to 91.57% by 2010. Over the decade, there was an increase in those identifying as Black (from 2.00% to 2.44%) and those reporting two or more races (from 1.68% to 2.84%). There was a slight decrease in the percentage of Asian/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics. Interestingly, American Indian and Alaskan Natives who carry the Carrel surname were not recorded in 2000 but made up 0.91% of the group in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.9%	91.57%	-2.48%
Two or More Races	1.68%	2.84%	69.05%
Black	2%	2.44%	22%
Hispanic	1.47%	1.42%	-3.4%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.91%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.95%	0.81%	-14.74%