Bentzel Family Association

Bentzel Name Variations in the 1850 U.S. Census

(Research performed by Chad G. Nichols, 21 Sep 2005)

The Bentzel name has many variations in the United States, primarily due to the lack of education on the part of our ancestors in being able to correctly spell their own name in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. So which version is correct? It's practically impossible to say, but we can demonstrate the most widely used derivatives by analyzing the 1850 census. The list below displays the number of families recorded in the United States utilizing various spellings. Keep in mind these spellings were at the discretion of the census-taker, not necessarily the head of household. "Bensel" was the most common form:

BENCIL = 2
BENSEL = 35
BENSELL = 10
BENSILL = 2
BENSYL = 1
BENTZEL = 6
BENTZELL = 1
BENZEL = 1
BINTSELL = 1
BINTZELL = 1
PENCEL = 3
PENCELL = 1
PENCIL = 21
PENCILE = 1
PENCILL = 1
PENSEL = 7
PENSELL = 4
PENSIL = 4
PENSLE = 1
PENSYL = 3