How common is the surname Cornell?

21,558 people in the United States had the surname Cornell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,322 Americans. It ranked 1,672nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Cornell?

Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, professor (born 1961), followed by Chris Cornell.

Where is the surname Cornell most common?

Wikidata records people named Cornell in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Cornell getting more or less common?

More common. 21,060 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 21,558 in 2010, up 2.4%.

Is Cornell also a first name?

Yes. Cornell is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Cornell

A surname, carried by 21,558 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex C654 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Cornell is more common than 99% of them.

Origin

From Cornwall, spelling conflated with the Latin family name Cornelius.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 21,558 people named Cornell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 14,322 Americans. That is up 2.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 21,060.

#1,672

rank among US surnames

21,558

people in 2010

7.3

per 100,000 Americans

+2.4%

change since 2000 (was #1,566)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,664	Betancourt	21,663	14,252
#1,665	Beaver	21,640	14,267
#1,667	Kilgore	21,627	14,276
#1,668	McGraw	21,614	14,285
#1,669	Dahl	21,598	14,295
#1,670	Diamond	21,586	14,303
#1,671	Pimentel	21,579	14,308

Who is named Cornell

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

89% of people named Cornell identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 89%
Black (not Hispanic) 5.1%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
Two or more races 1.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Cornells

11 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Eric Allin Cornell
American physicist, professor (born 1961)
Chris Cornell
American musician (1964–2017)
Katharine Cornell
American actress, theatre manager and producer (1893-1974)
Joseph Cornell
American artist and filmmaker (1903-1972)
Ezra Cornell
American businessman (1807-1874)
Ellie Cornell
American actress, born 1963
Don Cornell
American singer (1919-2004)
John Cornell
Australian film producer, writer, actor, and businessman (1941-2021)
Lydia Cornell
Actress, writer, born 1953
Drucilla Cornell
American philosopher and feminist theorist, 1950–2022
Muriel Cornell
British athlete, 1906–1996

Notable Cornells come mostly from the United States (9), Australia (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Cornell

Cornell has the Soundex code C654, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C654.

Questions

Where does the surname Cornell come from?: From Cornwall, spelling conflated with the Latin family name Cornelius.
How common is the surname Cornell?: 21,558 people in the United States had the surname Cornell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 14,322 Americans. It ranked 1,672nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Cornell?: In the 2010 Census, 89% of people named Cornell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Cornell?: Eric Allin Cornell, American physicist, professor (born 1961), followed by Chris Cornell.
Where is the surname Cornell most common?: Wikidata records people named Cornell in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Cornell getting more or less common?: More common. 21,060 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 21,558 in 2010, up 2.4%.
Is Cornell also a first name?: Yes. Cornell is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.