Explore the Family Name Seel

The meaning of Seel

1. English (Lancashire): variant of Seal. 2. North German: metonymic occupational name for a rope maker, from Middle Low German sēl ‘rope’. 3. German: habitational name from Sehl in Rhineland-Palatinate. Some characteristic forenames: German Erwin, Heinz, Kurt.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Seel saw a shift in its popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname ranked 22,078, but by 2010 it had slipped to 24,838, indicating a decrease of 12.5%. The total count of individuals with this surname also declined during this time frame, with 1,093 people bearing the name in 2000 and 1,002 in 2010, marking a decrease of 8.33%. The proportion of the Seel surname per 100K people also fell by 17.07% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#22,078	#24,838	-12.5%
Count	1,093	1,002	-8.33%
Proportion per 100k	0.41	0.34	-17.07%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Seel

Ethnic identity associated with the surname Seel saw some changes between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The majority of people with this surname identified as White, though the percentage decreased slightly from 95.97% in 2000 to 94.51% in 2010. Those identifying as Hispanic saw an increase from 1.28% to 1.60%, while those identifying as Black increased marginally from 2.10% to 2.30%. Interestingly, the census recorded people with the surname Seel identifying with two or more races in 2010, a category that hadn’t been accounted for in 2000. However, no individuals with this surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.97%	94.51%	-1.52%
Black	2.1%	2.3%	9.52%
Hispanic	1.28%	1.6%	25%
Two or More Races	0%	0.9%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%