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Steel Family History

Steel Surname Meaning

English: variant of Steele. Americanized form (translation into English) of German Stahl and Swedish Ståhl or Stål

all meaning ‘steel’.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Steel family from?

You can see how Steel families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Steel family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Steel families were found in USA in 1880. In 1911 there were 345 Steel families living in Ontario. This was about 51% of all the recorded Steel's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Steel families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Steel surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Steel ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer and Clerk were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Steel. 32% of Steel men worked as a Farmer and 12% of Steel women worked as a Clerk. Some less common occupations for Americans named Steel were Machinist and Operator.

View Census Data for Steel | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Farmer
    32%
  • Labourer
    8%
  • Laborer
    7%
  • Machinist
    5%

Top Female Occupations In 1921

  • Clerk
    12%
  • Stenographer
    12%
  • Servant
    10%
  • Operator
    8%

What Steel family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 335,000 census records available for the last name Steel. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Steel census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Steel

Passenger Lists

There are 30,000 immigration records available for the last name Steel. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Steel immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 37,000 military records available for the last name Steel. For the veterans among your Steel ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Steel military records

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