Steele
85,371 people in the United States were counted with the surname Steele in the 2020 census, making it the 363rd most common in the country. That is about one person in 3,501.
By the numbers
- People
- 85,371
- Rank
- 363rd
- How common
- 1 in 3,501
- Per 100,000
- 28.6
Where the name comes from
Origin an occupational name
From Middle English stele (“steel”); either a metal worker or a person considered to be as hard as steel.
Etymology from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Who bears the name
How people with the surname Steele described their own race and Hispanic origin at the 2020 census:
Notable people called Steele
- Richard Steele (1671–1729)17th/18th-century Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, and politician
- Peter Steele (1962–2010)American musician
- Riley Steele (born 1987)American pornographic actress
- Barbara Steele (born 1937)British actress
- Michael Steele (born 1958)American politician
- Jason Steele (born 1990)English association football player
- Lexington Steele (born 1969)American pornographic actor
- Tommy Steele (born 1936)British entertainer
People named Steele with articles in the most Wikipedia languages. Data from Wikidata (CC0).
Surnames like Steele
Also a first name
Steele has been given to 3,191 American babies as a first name since 1920, peaking in 2025. See it as a given name.
Try it on yourself
Source: US Census Bureau, Frequently Occurring Surnames, 2020. The Census describes the file as the surnames borne by 100 or more people; rarer names are not published. The line is not quite exact, and 617 published names come in under it, the smallest at 92 people. Race and Hispanic origin are self-reported. Rates are worked out against the 298.9 million people the file's own figures are calculated on, which is fewer than the census counted in all: the difference is everyone whose surname was too rare to publish.