Bartels
A German and Dutch surname meaning “son of Bartel,” with Bartel itself a short form of Bartholomew.
The #4,032 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 35,049 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bartels is a patronymic surname built from the personal name Bartel plus the Germanic/Low German possessive ending -s, meaning “of Bartel” or “Bartel’s son.” Bartel is a diminutive or short form of Bartholomew, a biblical name ultimately from Aramaic Bar-Tolmai, traditionally understood as “son of Tolmai.” In practice, the surname arose independently in several German-speaking and Dutch-speaking areas wherever Bartel was used as a given name.
History
The name is especially associated with northern Germany and the Netherlands, where short-form given names like Bartel were common and patronymics with -s became hereditary surnames. Historical surname collections also record related forms such as Bartela and Bartling in regional groupings, suggesting a broader family of Bart- names in the same naming area. Today Bartels remains most common in German-speaking countries and among descendants of German and Dutch emigrants.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Bartel is a short form of Bartholomew, Bartels ultimately shares a distant biblical root with many surnames such as Bartholomew, Bartley, and Bartlett.
From the historical record
“Berthde; Berti — Bechtel — Brachtl — Prächtel — Bartel. Gen. Bartels — Bartela (ostfries.). Patr. A. Bert- ling — Bartling, Barttlingck. (k): Bartke; Barttig. Q&n.Bertges. Patr.A. Brechtker (Preuß S. 19).”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen