Explore the Family Name Fenelus

The meaning of Fenelus

Haitian (Fénélus): probably an altered form of Fénelon (see Fenelon). Alternatively, perhaps an altered form of French Fenelous, a derivative of the Old French adjective fenal ‘hay-’, applied as a nickname for a haymaker. The surname Fenelous is very rare in France.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Fenelus has grown in the United States over a decade. In 2000, it was ranked 57,252 and by 2010, it moved up to the 43,511th spot, marking a 24% rise in its rank. The count of individuals with this surname also increased significantly by nearly 49%, from 333 people in 2000 to 496 in 2010. This resulted in an increase of the proportion per 100k from 0.12 to 0.17, presenting a 41.67% growth.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#57,252	#43,511	24%
Count	333	496	48.95%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.17	41.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Fenelus

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Fenelus witnessed a notable shift between 2000 and 2010, as per the Decennial U.S. Census data. The majority of the bearers of this surname identify as Black, a percentage that grew from 82.28% in 2000 to 94.35% in 2010. There was also a minimal emergence of Fenelus individuals identifying as White, from 0% to 1.81% during the same period. Conversely, those identifying as having two or more races dropped dramatically from 13.81% to 1.21%. Hispanic representation also declined slightly from 2.70% to 2.02%. There were no reported individuals under Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native categories in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	82.28%	94.35%	14.67%
Hispanic	2.7%	2.02%	-25.19%
White	0%	1.81%	0%
Two or More Races	13.81%	1.21%	-91.24%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%