Wentzel
A German surname, usually treated as a form of Wenzel, ultimately from the Slavic name Václav/Wenceslaus, meaning “more glory.”
The #8,894 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,875 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Wentzel is a German surname connected with the personal name Wenzel, a German form of Czech Václav (Latin Wenceslaus). That older name is built from Slavic elements meaning roughly “more glory” or “greater fame.” In surname use, Wentzel would originally have identified someone by descent from, or association with, a man named Wenzel.
History
The surname is most at home in German-speaking areas, where Wenzel was a common given name and later a family name source. Spelling with -tzel reflects German orthographic patterns and local dialect variation, and related forms such as Wenz, Wenzell, and Wenzel are found in older records. In the United States, Wentzel is relatively uncommon but fits the wider wave of German and Central European surnames carried by immigration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same name family is linked to Saint Wenceslaus, the medieval Bohemian duke better known in English from the carol “Good King Wenceslas.”
From the historical record
“Wente 93, 132. Wentworth 504. Wentzel 132. Wentzell 132. Wenz 132. Wenzel 132, 326. *Wenzikon 475.”
— Die Personennamen, insbesondere die Familiennamen