The Richel surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 289 people carried this name — #68,122 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 1,000,000 people counted. That is down 15% from 339 in 2000.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 126 people named Richel.
4 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 20 départements, most often Savoie.
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 Belgium’s population register
At least 58 people named Richel 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.
Who carried it
People named Richel,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Clément Richel 1835–1911 · writer -
Blanche Doumer 1859–1933 -
Martinus Johannes Richel 1821– · naval personnel
-
Arthur Richel 1868–1940 · librarian
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Christophe Richel 1965– · politician
-
Aurore Richel 1977– · university teacher
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Richel.
- Richardet 180 · U.S. census
- Richards 130,529 · U.S. census
- Richardson 259,798 · U.S. census
- Richart 1,305 · U.S. census
- Richarte 275 · U.S. census
- Riche 1,664 · U.S. census
- Richen 106 · U.S. census
- Richer 2,513 · U.S. census
- Richert 2,910 · U.S. census
- Richmond 37,053 · U.S. census
- Richoux 537 · U.S. census
- Richter 29,880 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Richel 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.