2000
#5,466
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,853
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.17
Rare Last name
Kahler
Derived from the German word "kahl," meaning bald, and likely referring to a person with little hair.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,458 Americans carry the last name Kahler. That puts it at #5,899 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.88 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 53,074 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kahler 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
6.5K
1 in 53,074
Census rank
#5,899
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,632 bearers of the surname Kahler in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.88 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5899th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kahler, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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earliest recorded instances of the name Kahler can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, Germany, dated around 1230.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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kahler
Among Census respondents with the surname Kahler, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Kahler 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 Kahler surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 5,216
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 159
- Two or more races2.7% · 154
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 76
- Black or African American0.3% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kahler
Kahler appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#5,865
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,881
+28 bearers (+0.5%)
Per 100,000 1.99
Rank movement Down 399 places
2020
#5,899
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,632
-249 bearers (-4.2%)
Per 100,000 1.88
Rank movement Down 34 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,466 | 5,853 | 2.17 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,865 | 5,881 | 1.99 | +28 bearers (+0.5%) | Down 399 places |
| 2020 | #5,899 | 5,632 | 1.88 | -249 bearers (-4.2%) | Down 34 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 Kahler 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 | #5,865 | #5,899 | -0.6% |
| Count | 5,881 | 5,632 | -4.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.99 | 1.88 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kahler bearers went from 5,881 to 5,632 (-4.2% change). The surname moved down 34 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,865 to #5,899.
FAQ
Kahler surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kahler?
Name Census estimates that about 6,458 living Americans carry the surname Kahler. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 53,074 residents.
How common is Kahler?
Kahler ranks #5,899 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.88 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,632 people with the surname Kahler. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,458), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.88 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.88 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Kahler.
Has Kahler become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kahler went from 5,881 recorded bearers to 5,632. That is a decrease of 249 (-4.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,865 to #5,899.
What does the Census say about the background of Kahler?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kahler, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.8%) 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?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Kahler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (5,216 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kahler appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Hispanic (2.8%), 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 Kahler (2000, 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 Kahler mean?
Derived from the German word "kahl," meaning bald, and likely referring to a person with little hair. 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 Kahler (1.88 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 people have the last name Kahler?
See how many Americans have the surname Kahler on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.