2010
#137,327
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Kagler
A German surname derived from the middle high German word "kegelære," meaning a maker of cones or funnel-shaped objects.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Kagler. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kagler surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Kagler in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kagler, the largest self-reported group is Black at 72.1%. The next largest groups are White (24.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kagler
The surname Kagler originated in Germany, tracing its roots back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Old German word 'kagl', meaning 'spherical' or 'round', suggesting that the name may have been an occupational surname for someone who worked with spherical objects or lived near a round-shaped landmark.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kagler can be found in the German state of Bavaria in the late 1500s, where it appears in various municipal records and church registers. The name was particularly prevalent in the regions around the cities of Munich and Augsburg during this time.
In the 17th century, the Kagler name began to spread beyond Bavaria to other parts of Germany, with some notable individuals bearing the surname emerging. One such person was Hans Kagler (1621-1689), a prominent merchant and landowner from the town of Memmingen in the Swabian region.
As the name continued to disperse throughout Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries, it also found its way into other European countries through migration and trade. In the early 1800s, a Kagler family settled in the town of Bielsko-Biała, then part of the Austrian Empire (now in southern Poland), where they established a successful textile business.
Another notable figure from this period was Johann Kagler (1792-1862), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics. He was born in the town of Erlangen in Bavaria and later became a professor at the University of Würzburg.
As the 19th century progressed, the Kagler name began to appear in records from other parts of Europe and even in the Americas, as some individuals with this surname immigrated to new lands. One such example is Friedrich Kagler (1845-1918), a German-American artist and painter who settled in Philadelphia and became known for his landscape paintings of the Pennsylvania countryside.
Throughout its history, the surname Kagler has been associated with various professions, from merchants and businesspeople to academics and artists. While not a particularly common name, it has left its mark in various regions and continues to be carried on by descendants of its original bearers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kagler
Among Census respondents with the surname Kagler, the largest self-reported group is Black at 72.1%. The next largest groups are White (24.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Kagler bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Kagler surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American72.1% · 80
- White24.3% · 27
- Two or more races2.7% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kagler
Kagler appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
-11 bearers (-9.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,338 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #137,327 | 122 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | -11 bearers (-9.0%) | Down 11,338 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Kagler surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #137,327 | #148,665 | -8.3% |
| Count | 122 | 111 | -9.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kagler bearers went from 122 to 111 (-9.0% change). The surname moved down 11,338 positions in the national ranking, going from #137,327 to #148,665.
FAQ
Kagler surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kagler?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Kagler. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Kagler?
Kagler ranks #148,665 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 111 people with the surname Kagler. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Kagler.
Has Kagler become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kagler went from 122 recorded bearers to 111. That is a decrease of 11 (-9.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #137,327 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Kagler?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kagler, the largest self-reported group is Black at 72.1%. The next largest groups are White (24.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Kagler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.1% (80 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kagler appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (72.1%), White (24.3%), Two or More Races (2.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Kagler (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Kagler mean?
A German surname derived from the middle high German word "kegelære," meaning a maker of cones or funnel-shaped objects. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Kagler (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Kagler?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.