How common is the surname Snell?

22,177 people in the United States had the surname Snell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,922 Americans. It ranked 1,623rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Snell?

George Davis Snell, American geneticist, followed by Belinda Snell.

Where is the surname Snell most common?

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

How do you pronounce Snell?

Snell is /snɛl/, one syllable.

Is the surname Snell getting more or less common?

More common. 21,192 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,177 in 2010, up 4.6%.

The surname Snell

A German surname, carried by 22,177 people in the United States.

Pronounced /snɛl/ 1 syllable Soundex S540

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

Origin

German origin

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

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 22,177 people named Snell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 13,922 Americans. That is up 4.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 21,192.

#1,623

rank among US surnames

22,177

people in 2010

7.5

per 100,000 Americans

+4.6%

change since 2000 (was #1,556)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,614	Sewell	22,294	13,849
#1,615	Browne	22,289	13,852
#1,616	Ramey	22,287	13,853
#1,617	Davison	22,276	13,860
#1,618	Clifford	22,245	13,879
#1,619	Stahl	22,211	13,901
#1,621	Samuels	22,207	13,903

Who is named Snell

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

75% of people named Snell identified as white (not Hispanic), 17% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Snells

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

George Davis Snell
American geneticist, 1903–1996
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)

Notable Snells come mostly from the United States (4) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Snell

Snell has the Soundex code S540, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S540.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Snell come from?: English surname, from the adjective snell. See also Sneller, Snelling. Also Americanized from German Schnell and Dutch snel, of the same meaning.
How common is the surname Snell?: 22,177 people in the United States had the surname Snell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,922 Americans. It ranked 1,623rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Snell?: In the 2010 Census, 75% of people named Snell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 17% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Snell?: George Davis Snell, American geneticist, followed by Belinda Snell.
Where is the surname Snell most common?: Wikidata records people named Snell in the United States and Australia.
How do you pronounce Snell?: Snell is /snɛl/, one syllable.
Is the surname Snell getting more or less common?: More common. 21,192 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,177 in 2010, up 4.6%.