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

Kail, 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 Kail surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kail in America

Kail is the 15183rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kail surname appeared 1,940 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kail.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kail 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 Kail

The surname Kail originated in Scotland, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Gaelic word "cail," meaning "cabbage," which was likely used as a nickname for someone who cultivated or sold cabbages.

One of the earliest known references to the name Kail can be found in the records of the Burgh of Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland, where a person named John Kail is mentioned in 1597. In the same region, the Kail family is also recorded as landowners in the 17th century, with their estate being located near the village of Kingarth.

The name Kail appears to have been particularly prevalent in the Scottish Lowlands and the Borders region. In the 17th and 18th centuries, several notable individuals bore this surname, including James Kail (1619-1683), a Scottish minister and scholar who served as the Principal of the University of Edinburgh.

Another prominent figure was William Kail (1638-1705), a Scottish philosopher and academic who held the position of Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of St. Andrews. His work, "A Short Essay on the Reason and Ground of Christian Religion," published in 1701, was widely influential in its time.

In the 19th century, James Kail (1808-1867) was a distinguished Scottish architect known for his work on several churches and other notable buildings in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas. His legacy includes the design of the iconic St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, completed in 1879.

The surname Kail also made its way across the Atlantic, with several bearers of the name contributing to the development of the United States. One such individual was John Kail (1794-1872), a Scottish-American businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, from 1856 to 1858.

Another notable figure was George Kail (1823-1899), a Scottish-born American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune in the steel industry. He was a prominent figure in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and his contributions included the establishment of the Kail Literary Institute, which provided educational opportunities for working-class students.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kail

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

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 Kail 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 Kail 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 Kail was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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