Explore the Family Name Whelchel

The meaning of Whelchel

Variant of Welchel, a surname of German origin.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Whelchel has seen a minor decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked as the 14,127th most common surname and slightly dropped to the 15,147th spot in 2010, marking a decline of 7.22 percent. The number of people sharing this surname also slightly decreased during that decade from 1954 to 1947, showing a negligible change of -0.36 percent. The proportion per 100,000 residents carrying the Whelchel surname also fell by 8.33 percent, from 0.72 to 0.66.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#14,127	#15,147	-7.22%
Count	1,954	1,947	-0.36%
Proportion per 100k	0.72	0.66	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Whelchel

The ethnic identity associated with the Whelchel surname has seen some shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. Overwhelmingly, the majority identify as White, though this percentage did decrease slightly from 91.56 percent to 89.78 percent over the decade. The second largest group identifies as Black, making up 5.53 percent in 2000 and slightly decreasing to 5.34 percent in 2010. Notably, there was an increase in those identifying as either Asian/Pacific Islander or Hispanic, rising from 0.41 percent to 0.77 percent and 0.77 percent to 1.64 percent respectively. Those identifying as belonging to two or more races also rose from 0.92 percent to 1.59 percent. Lastly, those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native experienced a small increase from 0.82 percent to 0.87 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.56%	89.78%	-1.94%
Black	5.53%	5.34%	-3.44%
Hispanic	0.77%	1.64%	112.99%
Two or More Races	0.92%	1.59%	72.83%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.82%	0.87%	6.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.41%	0.77%	87.8%