How common is the surname Patel?

229,973 people in the United States had the surname Patel in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,343 Americans. It ranked 95th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Patel?

Dev Patel, British actor (born 1990), followed by Himesh Patel.

Where is the surname Patel most common?

Wikidata records people named Patel in the United Kingdom, India and the United States.

How do you pronounce Patel?

Patel is /pəˈtɛl/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Patel getting more or less common?

More common. 145,066 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 229,973 in 2010, up 59%.

The surname Patel

A Gujarati surname, the 95th most common in the United States.

Pronounced /pəˈtɛl/ 2 syllables Soundex P340

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Patel is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

Gujarati origin

Borrowed from Gujarati પટેલ (paṭěl, “village headman”), from Prakrit 𑀧𑀝𑁆𑀝𑀇𑀮𑁆𑀮 (paṭṭaïlla), from Sanskrit पट्टकिल (paṭṭakila). Doublet of Patil.

One of 18 Gujarati surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 229,973 people named Patel in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,343 Americans. That is up 59% since 2000, when the Census counted 145,066.

#95

rank among US surnames

229,973

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+58.5%

change since 2000 (was #172)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#86	Bennett	247,599	1,247
#87	Gray	246,116	1,254
#88	Mendoza	242,771	1,272
#89	Ruiz	238,234	1,296
#90	Hughes	236,271	1,307
#91	Price	235,251	1,312
#92	Alvarez	233,983	1,320

Who is named Patel

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

95% of people named Patel identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 2.1% as white (not Hispanic) and 1.6% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 95%
White (not Hispanic) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.4%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Patels

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Dev Patel
British actor (born 1990)
Himesh Patel
British actor, born 1990
Anandiben Patel
20th Governor of Uttar Pradesh, born 1941
Upen Patel
British actor, born 1980
Gayatri Patel
American-Indian actress, born 1987
Nikesh Patel
British actor, born 1985

Notable Patels come mostly from the United Kingdom (4), India (1) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Patel

Patel has the Soundex code P340, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P340.

Other Gujarati surnames

All 18 Gujarati surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Patel come from?: Borrowed from Gujarati પટેલ (paṭěl, “village headman”), from Prakrit 𑀧𑀝𑁆𑀝𑀇𑀮𑁆𑀮 (paṭṭaïlla), from Sanskrit पट्टकिल (paṭṭakila). Doublet of Patil.
How common is the surname Patel?: 229,973 people in the United States had the surname Patel in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,343 Americans. It ranked 95th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Patel?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Patel identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 2.1% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Patel?: Dev Patel, British actor (born 1990), followed by Himesh Patel.
Where is the surname Patel most common?: Wikidata records people named Patel in the United Kingdom, India and the United States.
How do you pronounce Patel?: Patel is /pəˈtɛl/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Patel getting more or less common?: More common. 145,066 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 229,973 in 2010, up 59%.