Explore the Family Name Zeiler

The meaning of Zeiler

South German: 1. topographic name from Middle High German zīle ‘row of houses, alley’, or zīl ‘thorn bush, briar’, the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant. 2. habitational name for someone from any of several places called Zeil or Zeilen.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Zeiler saw a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The name was ranked 18,724 in 2000 and dropped to 26,282 in 2010, marking a significant decline of approximately 40%. Furthermore, the count of individuals with the Zeiler surname declined by over 31%, from 1,355 in 2000 to 929 in 2010. This resulted in a drop in proportion per 100,000 people from 0.5 to 0.31 during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#18,724	#26,282	-40.37%
Count	1,355	929	-31.44%
Proportion per 100k	0.5	0.31	-38%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Zeiler

As for ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the Zeiler surname was predominantly associated with individuals identifying as White in both 2000 and 2010, although the percentage decreased slightly from 96.61% to 94.62%. Individuals identifying as Hispanic showed the most significant increase, growing from 1.03% in 2000 to 2.69% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of those identifying as Black increased moderately from 0.74% to 0.97%. The representation of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native was suppressed or reduced to zero for privacy reasons. The percentage of individuals identifying with two or more races also grew, rising from 0.81% to 1.29%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.61%	94.62%	-2.06%
Hispanic	1.03%	2.69%	161.17%
Two or More Races	0.81%	1.29%	59.26%
Black	0.74%	0.97%	31.08%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.37%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.44%	0%	0%