Explore the Family Name Fahl

The meaning of Fahl

German: nickname for someone with a pale complexion or with very fair hair, from Middle High German val ‘pale, wan’. In some cases it may be a from a shortened form of any of various ancient Germanic compound names with Fahl as the first element. Some characteristic forenames: German Gunther, Wolfgang.

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

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

The surname Fahl, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, has seen a slight decrease in popularity over the span of a decade. In 2000, it ranked 34,259 and dropped to 36,525 by 2010, marking a 6.61% decline. The count of individuals with the Fahl surname also decreased from 626 to 612, a minor decrease of 2.24%. Proportionally, this surname was found among 0.23 per 100k people in 2000 and slightly dropped to 0.21 per 100k in 2010, a change of -8.7%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#34,259	#36,525	-6.61%
Count	626	612	-2.24%
Proportion per 100k	0.23	0.21	-8.7%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Fahl

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates that the majority of individuals carrying the Fahl surname identified as White, accounting for 93.61% in 2000 and slightly decreasing to 92.48% in 2010. There was no recorded Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native representation within the Fahl surname during these years. However, there was a small but notable increase in individuals of Hispanic ethnic identity from 3.19% in 2000 to 3.76% in 2010, marking a 17.87% increase. The percentage of individuals identifying with two or more races also increased from 2.08% to 2.29%, a 10.10% change.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.61%	92.48%	-1.21%
Hispanic	3.19%	3.76%	17.87%
Two or More Races	2.08%	2.29%	10.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%