Explore the Family Name Rupel

The meaning of Rupel

1. Americanized form of German Ruppel. Compare Ruple and Rupple. 2. German (also Rüpel): from a pet form of Rupprecht (see also Ruppel). From the 16th century, the name Rüpel came to mean ‘lout’ and some late formations of the surname may have arisen from a nickname from this sense. This surname is also found in Slovenia, where it is in some instances spelled Rupelj.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Rupel has seen a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Rupel was the 67,522nd most common surname in the United States with a count of 273, approximately 0.1 per 100,000 people. By 2010, the surname had fallen to the 76,029th rank with a reduced count of 253, approximately 0.09 per 100,000 people. This change represents a -12.6% shift in rank and a -7.33% shift in count.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#67,522	#76,029	-12.6%
Count	273	253	-7.33%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.09	-10%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rupel

Turning to the ethnic identity associated with the surname Rupel, the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that it is predominantly identified with individuals of White ethnicity. In 2000, 92.67% of people with this surname were White, although this figure slightly decreased to 91.70% by 2010. Meanwhile, the proportion of those identifying as Hispanic increased from 5.13% in 2000 to 7.11% in 2010, a significant change of 38.60%. The surname showed little or no association with other ethnicities such as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, American Indian and Alaskan Native, and those identifying as two or more races.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.67%	91.7%	-1.05%
Hispanic	5.13%	7.11%	38.6%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%