Explore the Family Name Rittel

The meaning of Rittel

German: probably from Middle High German riutili, a diminutive of riute ‘(forest) clearing’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived at a clearing.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Rittel saw a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. Ranked at 55,376 in 2000, it dropped to 84,136 by 2010, which is a decline of approximately 51.94%. The count of individuals with this surname also reduced from 347 to 223 during this time period, a drop of 35.73%. Consequently, the proportion of people named Rittel per 100,000 decreased by 38.46%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#55,376	#84,136	-51.94%
Count	347	223	-35.73%
Proportion per 100k	0.13	0.08	-38.46%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rittel

In terms of ethnicity, the census data reveals certain shifts over the decade. According to the Decennial U.S. Census, individuals bearing the surname Rittel predominantly identify as White, although there was a slight reduction in this category from 96.25% in 2000 to 91.48% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of those identifying as Hispanic increased significantly from 1.73% to 3.59%, marking an increase of 107.51%. Additionally, there was a noticeable emergence of American Indian and Alaskan Native identity among individuals with the Rittel surname, which didn't appear in the 2000 data but constituted 3.14% of the total in 2010. The categories of Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, and Black remained unchanged, with no individuals identifying under these ethnicities in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.25%	91.48%	-4.96%
Hispanic	1.73%	3.59%	107.51%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	3.14%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%