Kramer
A German masculine name derived from the occupational surname for an innkeeper or shopkeeper.
Name Census estimates that about 487 living Americans carry the first name Kramer. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Kramer today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kramer births was 1989 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kramer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
487
~ 1 in 703,808 Americans
Peak year
1989
70 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2020 SSA rank
#11,378
Tracked since 1916
Census
Kramer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 603 people with the first name Kramer, which placed it at #18,003 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,003
National first-name rank
People counted
603
603 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kramer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kramer is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kramer described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kramer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.4% · 515
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 26
- Two or more races3.8% · 23
- Black or African American3.5% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Kramer
Kramer leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kramer as a male name
- Ranked #11,378 in 2020
- 6 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1989 (70 births)
Kramer as a female name
- Ranked #12,572 in 1992
- 6 female births in 1992
- Peak: 1992 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kramer leans strongly male. 551 people counted with this name were male (91.7%), compared with 50 female bearers (8.3%).
Popularity
Kramer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kramer from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 342 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kramer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kramer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kramers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Washington, California, Nebraska recorded the most babies named Kramer, while Nebraska, California, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kramer
The name Kramer has its origins in the German language. It is an occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "kramer," which means a trader or a merchant. This word can be traced back to the Old High German "kram??ri," which in turn finds its roots in the Late Latin word "cramarius," meaning a trader or a merchant.
The name gained prominence during the Middle Ages when trade and commerce flourished in Europe. As merchants and traders played a crucial role in the economic life of medieval towns and cities, the name Kramer became associated with this profession. It was not uncommon for individuals to adopt occupational surnames during this period, as it helped identify their trade or occupation.
While the name Kramer does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is evident that the profession of trading and merchanting has been an integral part of human civilization for centuries. The earliest recorded instances of the name Kramer date back to the 13th century in various regions of present-day Germany.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the first name Kramer. One of the earliest recorded figures was Kramer von Reinstein, a German knight and landowner who lived in the 14th century. Another notable figure was Kramer von Erbach, a German nobleman and military leader from the 15th century.
In the realm of arts and literature, the name Kramer is associated with Theodor Kramer (1897-1958), an Austrian playwright and novelist known for his satirical works. Additionally, Kramer Hickok (1882-1972) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri.
In more recent times, the name Kramer gained widespread recognition through the character of Cosmo Kramer, portrayed by actor Michael Richards in the iconic television sitcom "Seinfeld." While this is a fictional character, it has contributed to the popularity and cultural significance of the name Kramer.
Other notable individuals with the first name Kramer include Kramer Williamson (1899-1979), an American painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and still lifes, and Kramer Naidu (born 1947), an Indian-American politician and lawyer who served as the United States Ambassador to Sweden from 2009 to 2013.
People
Kramer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kramer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kramer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kramer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 487 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kramer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 703,808 US residents.
Is Kramer a common name?
We classify Kramer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 506 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kramer most popular?
The single biggest year for Kramer was 1989, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kramer is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kramer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 603 people with the name Kramer, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,003 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kramer in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kramer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kramer leans strongly male. 551 people counted with this name were male (91.7%), compared with 50 female bearers (8.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kramer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kramer is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kramer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kramer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.4% (515 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kramer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kramer a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Kramer in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kramer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kramer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kramer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Kramer?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.