# Snell (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/snell/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,177 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,623 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,922 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.6% (21,192 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /snɛl/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

English surname, from the adjective snell. See also Sneller, Snelling. Also Americanized from German Schnell and Dutch snel, of the same meaning.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Snell in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 17% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Snell in the United States and Australia.

## People named Snell

- George Davis Snell, American geneticist
- Belinda Snell, Australian basketball player (born 1981)
- Tony Snell, American basketball player (born 1991)
- Blake Snell, American baseball pitcher (born 1992)
- Bertrand Snell, American politician (1870–1958)

## Similar surnames

Schnell, Scannell, Small, Samuel, Smiley, Smalley, Smail, Shanley, Schimmel, Schmoll, Shemwell, Smeal.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.