Explore the Family Name Schmeling

The meaning of Schmeling

North German: nickname from Middle Low German smal ‘narrow, slight, thin’. Some characteristic forenames: German Fritz, Hertha, Horst, Kurt, Udo.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Schmeling experienced a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 16,745th in terms of commonality among all surnames and slipped to 17,319th by 2010, marking a 3.43 percent drop. However, the actual count of individuals carrying this surname rose from 1,571 in 2000 to 1,634 in 2010, indicating a 4.01 percent increase. Despite this growth, the proportion of people with the Schmeling surname per 100,000 population saw a minor decline of 5.17 percent over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,745	#17,319	-3.43%
Count	1,571	1,634	4.01%
Proportion per 100k	0.58	0.55	-5.17%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Schmeling

In terms of ethnic identity, the majority of individuals bearing the Schmeling surname identified as White, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, 97.77 percent identified as White, which decreased slightly to 96.33 percent in 2010. There was a notable increase in identification as Hispanic, going from 0.51 percent in 2000 to 1.35 percent in 2010, an impressive 164.71 percent change. Additionally, those identifying as having two or more races also increased from 0.70 percent to 1.04 percent. The category of Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native either remained stagnant or saw changes that were suppressed for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.77%	96.33%	-1.47%
Hispanic	0.51%	1.35%	164.71%
Two or More Races	0.7%	1.04%	48.57%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.8%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0.45%	0%	0%