Explore the Family Name Chahal

The meaning of Chahal

Indian (Punjab): Sikh name of unexplained etymology, based on the name of a Jat clan. Some characteristic forenames: Indian Amrit, Bakhshish, Balwinder, Beant, Hardev, Jeet, Pavan, Raghbir, Sonali, Vinod.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Chahal has noticeably increased in the United States between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 30,324th, and by 2010, it had jumped to the 17,752nd spot, representing a significant rise in popularity of 41.46%. Moreover, the count of people with this last name more than doubled from 728 in 2000 to 1,578 in 2010, an increase of 116.76%. The proportion per 100,000 people also nearly doubled from 0.27 to 0.53 during the same period, reflecting a growth rate of 96.3%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#30,324	#17,752	41.46%
Count	728	1,578	116.76%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.53	96.3%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Chahal

Regarding the ethnic identity associated with the surname Chahal, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals a significant shift towards Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicity between 2000 and 2010. The percentage rose from 82.97% to 91.63%, indicating a 10.44% increase. On the other hand, there were decreases in those identifying as White and Hispanic, with changes of -23.86% and -18.44% respectively. Interestingly, the number of people identifying as two or more races saw a steep decrease from 8.52% in 2000 to 1.96% in 2010. No changes were observed in the Black, American Indian, and Alaskan Native categories during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	82.97%	91.63%	10.44%
White	5.49%	4.18%	-23.86%
Two or More Races	8.52%	1.96%	-77%
Hispanic	1.79%	1.46%	-18.44%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%