The Steele surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 88,230 people carried this name — #355 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 3,340 people counted. That is up 5% from 84,353 in 2000.

See Steele on the map Look up another surname

Share

What the name means

The meaning of the Steele surname

An English and Scottish surname originating as an occupation.

From Middle English stele (“steel”); either a metal worker or a person considered to be as hard as steel.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Steele» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Steel’.

An early record he cites: Robert Stele, Lincolnshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Steel, Steele, Stell and Stelle.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 715 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 54 births for the Steele name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 2,400 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The count includes the spelling Steel. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “33 in Antrim and 8 in Londonderry.”

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 47
Connacht 4
Leinster 3

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

38 people named Steele live in Switzerland.

They live in 5 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Vaud 11
Zurich 9
Geneva 7
St. Gallen 6
Basel-Landschaft 5

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 France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 26 people named Steele.

Most of them — 24 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 2 départements, most often Paris.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 24
Paris 1
Martinique 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In the Nordic population registers

72 people named Steele 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

Sweden (2022) 49
Finland (2026) 23

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.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Steele was found among the farmers of 5 counties.

It was most frequent in Cumberland and Westmorland: 60 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 167. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent. His list gives one count for the spellings Steel and Steele.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Cumberland and Westmorland 60
Staffordshire 26
Cheshire 24
Yorkshire, West Riding 15
Suffolk 7

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Steele was recorded 112 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 220th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 170. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Steele in American newspapers,
1911.

Newspaper page from The Southern Herald carrying the name Steele
The Southern Herald 1911-07-21
Newspaper page from The Donaldsonville Chief carrying the name Steele
The Donaldsonville Chief 1911-07-22
Newspaper page from Le Meschacébé carrying the name Steele
Le Meschacébé 1911-07-08

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 611,053 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Steele in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

99,746 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Steele. The most, 17,548, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in the Northern Territory, at 1.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 25,062
Queensland 24,437
Victoria 24,230
South Australia 13,153
Western Australia 6,776
Tasmania 4,559
ACT (Canberra) 1,086
Northern Territory 241

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Steele.

Who carried it

People named Steele,
with a public archive behind them.

  • May Steele d. 2020 · politician
  • Joseph Steele d. 1848 · naval officer
  • William Steele d. 1748 · politician
  • Matthew F Steele d. 1953
  • Thomas Steele d. 1811
  • Sir Thomas Steele d. 1823

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Steele,
in the records of 8 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States6,845 records

6,845 records of the Steele name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2,993
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 1,274
  • Other U.S. records 2,578
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Walter Charles Steele

    Born 1947; from San Diego, California. U.S. Army, indirect fire infantryman; killed in action 1968 in Lam Dong, South Vietnam. Buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Arthur R. Steele

    Born 1917 in Alabama. Enlisted 1942 at Chicago, Illinois; filling station attendant from Houston County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1988, buried at Barrancas National Cemetery, Florida.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Maggie Steele

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Furnessia from Glasgow and Londonderry, aged 28; servant. From Antrim, Ireland; bound for Philadelphia.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 6,845 records for Steele in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls) · Ramsey County, Minnesota (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia2,738 records

2,738 records of the Steele name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,461
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 504
  • Other Australian records 773
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Mary Steele

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Royal Admiral, sailing from London in 1842. Native of Balcombe, Sussex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1844.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Joseph Steele

    Died 1847 in Richmond, Tasmania, aged 58. Will registered in Tasmania in 1847.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jane Steele

    Arrived in Victoria in 1855 aboard the Emma, aged 38; Scottish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 2,738 records for Steele in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada1,198 records

1,198 records of the Steele name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 944
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 78
  • Other Canadian records 176
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Murphy Steele

    Left New York in 1783 aboard the Joseph, bound for Annapollis Royal, aged 30.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Chas Steele

    Came to Ontario in 1881 aboard the Parisian, landing at Halifax, bound for Oshawa, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Walter Ackland Steele

    Buried in 1979 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 77.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Showing 3 of 1,198 records for Steele in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom140 records

140 records of the Steele name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 75
  • Stirling Council burial records 39
  • Other British records 26
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record George Alexander Steele

    Born 1898 at Insch; farmer. Served in the First World War. Named in the Morayshire roll of honour (1921).

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Margaret Steele

    Died 1968, aged 66; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Margaret Steele

    Will proved in 1936; of Colwyn Bay, Denbigh.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)

Showing 3 of 140 records for Steele in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

New Zealand65 records

65 records of the Steele name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 42
  • Marlborough District cemetery records 12
  • Other New Zealand records 11
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Alice Martha Steele

    Died 1953, aged 86; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Marjorie Lavina Steele

    Died 1998, aged 90; buried at Fairhall Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Alexander McLean Steele

    Died 1933, aged 48; buried at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 65 records for Steele in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands18 records

18 records of the Steele name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 9
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 5
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 4
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record James Steele

    Died 1962 in Rotterdam, aged 36.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Maria Steele

    Married in 1783 in Axel; born in Zuiddorpe.

    Open Archives, Zeeuws Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Morris Steele

    Married in 1679 in Bergen op Zoom; born in Ireland.

    Open Archives, West Brabants Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 18 records for Steele in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

France3 records

3 records of the Steele name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Marjorie Ashton Steele

    Born 1926 in the United States; died 2000 in Mougins (Alpes-Maritimes).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 1 of 3 records for Steele in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Germany2 records

2 records of the Steele name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Bonifacius Steele

    From Rhöndorf, Siegburg. Reported missing in the Prussian casualty list of 12 November 1915 (Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 25).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Steele in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Steele.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Steele.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Steele 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.

See the Steele volume
Scroll to Top