The Adel surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 571 people carried this name — #38,691 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 526,300 people counted. That is up 23% from 466 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Adel surname
A surname transferred from the given name.
From Old High German adal, from Proto-West Germanic *aþal. The surname is shortened from male given names beginning with Adel-.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Adel» (German), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 337 people named Adel.
90 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 57 départements, most often Paris.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 68 people named Adel live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
32 people named Adel live in Switzerland.
They live in 7 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
566 people named Adel are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Who carried it
People named Adel,
with a public archive behind them.
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Florence Adele Vanderbilt Sloane 1873–1960 · clubwoman
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Alfréd Adel 1874–1940
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Frank F. Adel 1884–1967 · judge
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Leo Adel 1884–1940
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Marie Valerie Adel 1886–
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Rudolf Adel 1890–1940
Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Adel.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Adel is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.