Semmel
surname · Latin script
Meaning: Vars.: Seneschall, Senchell, Sene(s)cal, Senskell, Sensicall, occupational name for a baker of white rolls (Ger
(measured from records)Officially recorded in 8 countries · latest register: Census Bureau, 2020
/ˈsɛml̩/(recorded in a dictionary) German · from Wiktionary
Semmel is a surname written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the United States than in any other country.
- EEEstonia≈1 in 35K(inferred from the name graph)
- DEGermany≈1 in 180K
- AUAustralia≈1 in 390Kfew records
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- United States (measured from records)
- Record sources
- 158 (measured from records)
- ≈1 in 35K (inferred from the name graph)
478 people, 2010
corpus datasets behind its best-documented spelling
strongest: highest-authority source
Estonia, est.
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Meaning & origin
(measured from records)Vars.: Seneschall, Senchell, Sene(s)cal, Senskell, Sensicall, occupational name for a baker of white rolls (Ger. Semmel, Yid. zeml), from fine wheat-flour, MHG semel(e), simel (OHG semala, simila, from L; ultimately, via Gk, from Arabic). Such rolls were in contrast to the coarse ryebread that was and is the norm in many households.
Cited for this meaning 1
- The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles
Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.
Where in the world
(measured from records)Semmel counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | 478 | 1 in 696K | 517 | Semmel | 158 |
| DE Germany | ≈470 est. | ≈1 in 178K | listed | — | — |
| GB United Kingdom | ≈110 est. | ≈1 in 628K | listed | Semmel | 4 |
| AU Australia | ≈70 est. | ≈1 in 390K | — | Semmel | 27 |
| FR France | ≈57 est. | ≈1 in 1.2M | 3 | — | 1 |
| EE Estonia | ≈39 est. | ≈1 in 35K | 31 | — | 5 |
| NZ New Zealand | ≈10 est. | ≈1 in 551K | — | Semmel | 2 |
478 people counted by Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010, 2010. Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010; Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000; the hanks-dictionary-surnames-1988 register; INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000); the ee-stat-nimed register; the dfa-band-5 register. Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses
(measured from records)Semmel is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
In German, bread roll
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In German, Berufsname zu mhd. simele/semele 'Weizenmehl, -brot'; wohl für Bäcker/Verkäufer von Semmeln. Bearer count: 192.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 5: Familiennamen nach Beruf und persönlichen Merkmalen
In German, Aus Berufsname zu Semmel; wohl für einen Bäcker/Brötchenbäcker. Bearer count: 192.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 5: Familiennamen nach Beruf und persönlichen Merkmalen
In German, Berufsname zu Bäcker; Semmelbäcker/-händler.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 5: Familiennamen nach Beruf und persönlichen Merkmalen
In German, mhd. semel" Wei- zen |mehl, brot". Säm- mel, Semle, Simmel, Sem(m)ler = Sim(m)eler = Semmel | mann, haak, hack (s. Hake), weis ("Weizen"), beefcer. Aber Semmel [ rogge, rock, nach Schröder = Simrock Semp-: s. Senf und SIND
as a nameDeutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name
(measured from records)- Tobiaš Semmelb. 1866CZHolocaust victim (born 1866)
- Richard Semmelb. 1875DEGerman Jewish businessman and art collector (1875–1950)
- Abraham Semmelb. 1883CZHolocaust victim (born 1883)
- Šalamoun Semmelb. 1888CZHolocaust victim (born 1888)
- Josef Semmelb. 1896CZHolocaust victim (born 1896)
- Clarrie Semmelb. 1910AUAustralian rules footballer (1910-2000)
- Varvara Konstantinovna Konstantinovab. 1921AZnot in their usual nameSoviet poet
- Arno Semmelb. 1929DEGerman geographer and geologist (1929-2010)
- Joan Semmelb. 1932USAmerican artist (born 1932)
- Paul Semmelb. 1939USAmerican politician
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
How to address them
(machine-generated)Evidence
(measured from records)17 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 8 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000 | 2000 | 517 | #39,946 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020 | 2020 | 501 | #45,922 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010 | 2010 | 478 | #44,872 |
| EE Estonia | Statistics Estonia — per-name Population Register counts (nimed) | — | 31 | #3,467 |
| EE Estonia | Statistics Estonia — per-name Population Register counts (nimed) | — | 27 | #3,949 |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1971 | 9 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1981 | 7 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1951 | 6 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1941 | 6 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1991 | 3 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1961 | 3 | — |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1911 | 3 | — |
Reference works 4
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
- Rymut, Słownik nazwisk współcześnie w Polsce używanych (10 vols, IJP PAN, Kraków 1992–1994) — every Polish surname in the PESEL register at the end of 1990, with bearer counts nationally and per voivodeship1990
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does the name Semmel come from?
- Vars.: Seneschall, Senchell, Sene(s)cal, Senskell, Sensicall, occupational name for a baker of white rolls (Ger. Semmel, Yid. Recorded by The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles.
- How do you pronounce Semmel?
- In German /ˈsɛml̩/ (Wiktionary).
- What does the name Semmel mean?
- Recorded meaning: Vars.: Seneschall, Senchell, Sene(s)cal, Senskell, Sensicall, occupational name for a baker of white rolls (Ger.
- In which country does Semmel have the most bearers?
- In the United States, the national register counted about 478 people named Semmel, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled semmel.
- How common is the name Semmel?
- In the United States, the national register counted 478 people named Semmel in 2010, about 1 in 696 thousand residents.
What do you want to know about Semmel?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/semmelThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Semmel”. Data snapshot 2026-10-13.