Find out how popular the last name Kahler is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Kahler.

Kahler, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Kahler surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kahler in America

Kahler is the 5865th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kahler surname appeared 5,881 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Kahler.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kahler to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Kahler

The surname Kahler is of German origin and can be traced back to the early 13th century. It is believed to have originated from the German word "kahl," meaning "bald" or "hairless," suggesting that the name may have been originally used as a descriptive nickname for a person with little or no hair.

In the Middle Ages, surnames were often derived from physical characteristics, occupations, or places of origin. The name Kahler was likely given to an individual or family who had a distinctive appearance, perhaps a bald or balding head.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kahler can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, Germany, dated around 1230. The name is also mentioned in the Württembergisches Urkundenbuch, a compilation of medieval records from the region of Württemberg, dating back to the late 13th century.

In the 14th century, a variant spelling of the name, "Kahler," appeared in the Regesta Archiepiscopatus Magdeburgensis, a collection of archiepiscopal records from Magdeburg, Germany.

Notable individuals with the surname Kahler throughout history include:

1. Johann Kahler (1649-1728), a German Lutheran theologian and philosopher.
2. Martin Kahler (1835-1912), a German Protestant theologian and professor at the University of Halle.
3. Erich Kahler (1885-1970), an Austrian-American philosopher and writer.
4. Hugo Kahler (1903-1992), a German-American physicist and inventor.
5. Frederic Kahler (1888-1951), an American architect known for designing numerous buildings in the Art Deco style.

The name Kahler has also been associated with various place names, such as Kahler Asten, a municipality in Lower Saxony, Germany, and Kahler Berg, a hill located in the Harz Mountains in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

While the surname Kahler is primarily of German origin, it has also been adopted in other countries, particularly in regions with German-speaking populations or those influenced by German immigration. However, its roots can be traced back to the early Middle Ages in Germany, where it likely emerged as a descriptive nickname for an individual with a distinctive physical characteristic.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kahler

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Kahler.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Kahler was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Kahler has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Kahler was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Kahler, please contact us.

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