The Hamel surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 10,944 people carried this name — #3,294 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 27,000 people counted. That is up 3% from 10,592 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Hamel surname
A habitational surname from Middle French.
Habitational surname, from Middle French hamel (“hamlet”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Hamel» (French), 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 5,425 people named Hamel.
113 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 91 départements, most often Manche.
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 Switzerland’s population statistics
179 people named Hamel live in Switzerland.
They live in 9 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere 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 Belgium’s population register
At least 86 people named Hamel 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 Liège.
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 the Nordic population registers
29 people named Hamel is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
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).
In print
Hamel in American newspapers,
1900–1924.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 34,802 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Hamel,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Hendrick Hamel 1630–1692 · writer -
Margarete Luise Schick 1773–1809 · opera singer -
André-Rémi Hamel 1788–1840 · lawyer -
Joseph Hamel 1788–1862 · naturalist -
Théophile Hamel 1817–1870 · painter
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 200 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Hamel.
- Hamann 6,078 · U.S. census
- Hamant 148 · U.S. census
- Hamburger 1,575 · U.S. census
- Hamdani 270 · U.S. census
- Hamdi 299 · U.S. census
- Hamed 2,178 · U.S. census
- Hamelin 996 · U.S. census
- Hameline 115 · U.S. census
- Hamen 175 · U.S. census
- Hamer 6,783 · U.S. census
- Hames 3,633 · U.S. census
- Hamet 117 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Hamel 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.