How common is the surname Tell?

1,536 people in the United States had the surname Tell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 201,006 Americans. It ranked 18,128th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Tell?

Olive Tell, American actress (1894-1951), followed by Alma Tell.

Where is the surname Tell most common?

Wikidata records people named Tell in the United States.

Is the surname Tell getting more or less common?

Less common. 1,662 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,536 in 2010, down 7.6%.

The surname Tell

A surname, carried by 1,536 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex T400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Tell is more common than 88.8% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,536 people named Tell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 201,006 Americans. That is down 7.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,662.

#18,128

rank among US surnames

1,536

people in 2010

0.5

per 100,000 Americans

-7.6%

change since 2000 (was #16,028)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#18,128	Stenzel	1,536	201,006
#18,137	Hulin	1,535	201,137

Who is named Tell

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

59% of people named Tell identified as white (not Hispanic), 30% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 59%
Black (not Hispanic) 30%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4.7%
Two or more races 3.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Tells

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Olive Tell
American actress (1894-1951)
Alma Tell
American actress (1898-1937)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Tell

Tell has the Soundex code T400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code T400.

Questions

How common is the surname Tell?: 1,536 people in the United States had the surname Tell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 201,006 Americans. It ranked 18,128th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Tell?: In the 2010 Census, 59% of people named Tell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 30% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Tell?: Olive Tell, American actress (1894-1951), followed by Alma Tell.
Where is the surname Tell most common?: Wikidata records people named Tell in the United States.
Is the surname Tell getting more or less common?: Less common. 1,662 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,536 in 2010, down 7.6%.