Explore the Family Name Sorrels

The meaning of Sorrels

English: patronymic from Sorrell.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the Sorrels surname experienced a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 14,182nd in terms of frequency, but dropped to 15,163rd by 2010. This represented a change of -6.92 percent. However, the census data shows that the number of individuals with this surname remained relatively stable over this time period, from 1,943 people in 2000 to 1,944 in 2010 – a minimal increase of 0.05 percent. Consequently, its proportion per 100,000 inhabitants decreased by 8.33 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,182	#15,163	-6.92%
Count	1,943	1,944	0.05%
Proportion per 100k	0.72	0.66	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sorrels

In relation to ethnicity based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the Sorrels surname was most commonly associated with individuals identifying as white, although the percentage decreased slightly from 88.42 percent in 2000 to 85.34 percent in 2010. People identifying as Black represented the second largest group, increasing by 31.54 percent over the decade to account for 6.84 percent in 2010. Additionally, the surname was increasingly linked to those of multiple ethnic identities, rising by 12.04 percent to 2.42 percent. Although there was a small percentage increase seen among Asian/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics, the numbers were still marginal at 0.26 percent and 2.31 percent respectively. The American Indian and Alaskan Native group also saw a minor increase of 8.02 percent over the ten years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	88.42%	85.34%	-3.48%
Black	5.2%	6.84%	31.54%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	2.62%	2.83%	8.02%
Two or More Races	2.16%	2.42%	12.04%
Hispanic	0%	2.31%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.26%	0%