How common is the surname Schell?

13,016 people in the United States had the surname Schell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,720 Americans. It ranked 2,773rd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Schell?

In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Schell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Schell?

Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (1926–2005), followed by Ronnie Schell.

Where is the surname Schell most common?

Wikidata records people named Schell in the United States, Switzerland and Belgium.

Is the surname Schell getting more or less common?

More common. 12,785 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,016 in 2010, up 1.8%.

The surname Schell

A surname, carried by 13,016 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex S400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Schell is more common than 98.3% of them.

Origin

German surname, from the adjective Schelle (“jingle bell”). Compare Shell.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 13,016 people named Schell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 23,720 Americans. That is up 1.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 12,785.

#2,773

rank among US surnames

13,016

people in 2010

4.4

per 100,000 Americans

+1.8%

change since 2000 (was #2,596)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,764	Barkley	13,051	23,657
#2,765	Blank	13,050	23,659
#2,766	Croft	13,047	23,664
#2,767	Baltazar	13,045	23,668
#2,768	Salisbury	13,038	23,680
#2,769	Easter	13,036	23,684
#2,770	Burden	13,028	23,699

Who is named Schell

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

93% of people named Schell identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.6% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 93%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.6%
Two or more races 1.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Schells

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Maria Schell
Austrian-Swiss actress (1926–2005)
Ronnie Schell
American actor, comedian and cartoon voice actor (1931-2026)
Frank Schell
American rower (1884–1959)
Jonathan Schell
American author (1943–2014)
Jozef Schell
Belgian molecular biologist (1935–2003)

Notable Schells come mostly from the United States (3), Switzerland (1) and Belgium (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Schell

Schell has the Soundex code S400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S400.

Questions

Where does the surname Schell come from?: German surname, from the adjective Schelle (“jingle bell”). Compare Shell.
How common is the surname Schell?: 13,016 people in the United States had the surname Schell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 23,720 Americans. It ranked 2,773rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Schell?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Schell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Schell?: Maria Schell, Austrian-Swiss actress (1926–2005), followed by Ronnie Schell.
Where is the surname Schell most common?: Wikidata records people named Schell in the United States, Switzerland and Belgium.
Is the surname Schell getting more or less common?: More common. 12,785 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,016 in 2010, up 1.8%.