Explore the Family Name Kessell

The meaning of Kessell

1. Cornish (Cornwall and Devon): habitational name from one or more of several places in Cornwall whose names derive from Middle Cornish castell, kestell ‘castle, village, tor’, such as Kestle in Saint Columb Minor, Kestle in Egloshayle, and Kestal in Saint Hilary. 2. Altered form of German or Dutch Kessel.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Kessell has seen a decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Kessell ranked at 33,090 in terms of frequency but dropped to 38,754 by 2010, marking a decrease of 17.12%. The count of individuals with this surname also fell from 652 to 570 during this period, representing a -12.58% change. Similarly, the proportion of individuals named Kessell per 100k people decreased by 20.83%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#33,090	#38,754	-17.12%
Count	652	570	-12.58%
Proportion per 100k	0.24	0.19	-20.83%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kessell

The ethnicity associated with the surname Kessell also saw changes between 2000 and 2010 according to the Decennial U.S. Census. Those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander more than doubled, increasing from 0.92% to 1.93%. Individuals reporting two or more ethnic identities rose slightly from 2.61% to 3.16%. While the majority of those with the surname Kessell identified as White (88.07% in 2010), this was a drop from 92.18% in 2000. Meanwhile, representation among those identifying as Hispanic saw an increase from 3.83% to 5.61%. The data recorded no change for those identifying as Black, American Indian, or Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.18%	88.07%	-4.46%
Hispanic	3.83%	5.61%	46.48%
Two or More Races	2.61%	3.16%	21.07%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.92%	1.93%	109.78%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%