What ethnicity is the last name heil?

The last name Heil is primarily of German origin. It is a German surname that comes from the Middle High German word heil meaning healthy, whole, intact, or salvation, and was likely originally a nickname for a healthy or fortunate person, or possibly a short form of a longer given name containing the element heil such as Heilmann or Heiligen. The surname is most common in Germany, particularly in southern German regions like Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse, as well as in Austria and Switzerland. It is also found among Ashkenazi Jewish families of German origin, where German surnames were adopted in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the United States, the surname Heil is most prevalent among people of German-American descent, especially in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Midwest where large numbers of German immigrants settled in the 19th century. According to US Census surname data, the majority of people with the last name Heil self-identify as having German ancestry. The name can also appear in other spellings like Heyl or Heile. Like many short German surnames, it spread through immigration to North America, South America, and other regions, but its linguistic and ethnic origin is definitively Germanic, not Slavic, French, or other European ethnicities.