Explore the Family Name Dunkel

The meaning of Dunkel

German: nickname from Middle Low German dunkel, a byform of dunker ‘dark, conceited, unclear’, also applied as a byname for a blind person. Compare Dunckel and Dunkle.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Dunkel has seen minor fluctuations between 2000 and 2010. The rank fell slightly from 14,314 in 2000 to 14,378 in 2010, a drop of 0.45%. However, the count of individuals bearing the surname increased by 8.28% over the decade, rising from 1,920 in 2000 to 2,079 in 2010. Despite this increase, the proportion per 100k people declined marginally by 1.41%, suggesting that while the raw number of people with the surname Dunkel grew, its relative prevalence stagnated or decreased slightly.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,314	#14,378	-0.45%
Count	1,920	2,079	8.28%
Proportion per 100k	0.71	0.7	-1.41%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Dunkel

In terms of ethnic identity associated with the Dunkel surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates shifts between 2000 and 2010. A significant increase was observed among those identifying as Hispanic, jumping from 1.93% to 3.61%—a change of 87.05%. Those indicating they were of two or more races also saw a rise of 61.54%. Meanwhile, there was a slight uptick in individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (38.36%), Black (11.54%) and American Indian and Alaskan Native (22.58%). Interestingly, the percentage of individuals identifying as White dropped by 2.82%, from 95.73% in 2000 to 93.03% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.73%	93.03%	-2.82%
Hispanic	1.93%	3.61%	87.05%
Two or More Races	1.04%	1.68%	61.54%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.73%	1.01%	38.36%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.31%	0.38%	22.58%
Black	0.26%	0.29%	11.54%