Explore the Family Name Ravel

The meaning of Ravel

1. French: metonymic occupational name for a producer or seller of oilseed rape, from a diminutive of rave ‘rape (the plant)’. 2. English: variant of Raffel. 3. Americanized form of German Raffel. 4. Indian: variant of Raval. Some characteristic forenames: Indian Kartik, Mihir, Murali, Rajendra. French Jacques, Pierre.

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

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

The surname Ravel has seen a decrease in popularity based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, it was ranked at 59,293 and dropped to 68,770 by 2010, marking a 15.98% decrease. The count of individuals with this surname also fell from 319 in 2000 to 286 in 2010, showing a decline of 10.34%. Consequently, the proportion of people named Ravel per 100,000 decreased by 16.67%, moving from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.1 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#59,293	#68,770	-15.98%
Count	319	286	-10.34%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.1	-16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ravel

When looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Ravel, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows clear shifts between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased by 36.35%, while those identifying as White saw an 8.22% decrease. The Hispanic representation also increased, rising from 16.61% to 18.18%. There were no individuals who identified as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2000, but in 2010, both these categories accounted for 2.10% each. However, those reporting two or more races decreased slightly from 1.88% to 1.75%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	74.29%	68.18%	-8.22%
Hispanic	16.61%	18.18%	9.45%
Asian/Pacific Islander	5.64%	7.69%	36.35%
Black	0%	2.1%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	2.1%	0%
Two or More Races	1.88%	1.75%	-6.91%