Explore the Family Name Wiesel

The meaning of Wiesel

1. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German wisele, German Wiesel ‘weasel’. As a German name this is a nickname; as a Jewish name it is generally an artificial name. 2. German: nickname from Middle High German wīsel ‘leader’. Some characteristic forenames: German Manfred. Jewish Arie, Eliezer, Ephraim, Moshe, Nachum.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname 'Wiesel' has shown a decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, 'Wiesel' ranked 58,397 among all surnames, but by 2010 its rank had dropped to 77,264, indicating a decrease of 32.31%. In terms of count, there were 325 individuals with the surname 'Wiesel' in 2000, but this figure had decreased to 248 by 2010, a decrease of approximately 23.69%. The proportion of people named 'Wiesel' per 100,000 population also decreased from 0.12 in 2000 to 0.08 in 2010, marking a drop of 33.33%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#58,397	#77,264	-32.31%
Count	325	248	-23.69%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.08	-33.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Wiesel

In terms of ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of individuals with the surname 'Wiesel' identify as White. In 2000, 96.31% of the 'Wiesel' population identified as White. This percentage saw a slight decrease to 94.76% by 2010. There was no recorded change in ethnicity identity for those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native. However, there was a small increase in those who identify with two or more races, from 1.85% in 2000 to 2.02% in 2010, a growth of 9.19%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.31%	94.76%	-1.61%
Two or More Races	1.85%	2.02%	9.19%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%