The Kobel surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 870 people carried this name — #27,646 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 344,800 people counted. That is down 7% from 937 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Kobel surname
From Middle High German kobe(l), from the root of Koben (“stable”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Kobel» (German), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
1,408 people named Kobel live in Switzerland.
They live in 20 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Bern.
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 Poland’s population register
531 people named Kobel have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 684 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 11 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Lublin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 74 people named Kobel.
16 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 11 départements, most often Haut-Rhin.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
28 people named Kobel 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).
Who carried it
People named Kobel,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Kevin Kobel 1953– · baseball player -
Babi Kobel 1850–1943
-
Oskar Kobel 1868–1944 · teacher
-
Fritz Kobel 1896–1981 · agronomist
-
Maria Kobel 1897–1996 · chemist
-
Tadeusz Kobel 1911– · association football player
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Kobel.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Kobel 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.