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

Keifer, 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 Keifer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Keifer in America

Keifer is the 13230th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Keifer surname appeared 2,309 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 Keifer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Keifer 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 Keifer

The surname Keifer is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "kuofer," meaning "cooper" or "barrel maker." It emerged in the 13th century in the regions of Bavaria and Swabia, where many families worked as coopers, crafting wooden barrels and casks for storing and transporting goods.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various historical records and documents, such as the Heidelberg Codex, where a certain Hainrich Kuofer was listed as a resident of the city of Augsburg. The name was also found in the Nuremberg Chronicles, a famous illustrated world history book published in 1493, which mentioned a family of coopers with the surname Keifer residing in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

The earliest recorded example of the Keifer surname dates back to 1275, when a certain Heinrich Keifer was mentioned in the Bavarian town of Landshut's municipal records as a master cooper. Another notable figure was Hans Keifer, a renowned cooper from Nürnberg, who was born in 1492 and whose family's coat of arms featured a barrel, symbolizing their profession.

Throughout history, several individuals with the surname Keifer have left their mark. One of the most notable was Johann Keifer (1571-1634), a German Protestant theologian and professor at the University of Tübingen, who wrote extensively on biblical exegesis and church history. Another was Friedrich Keifer (1698-1768), a Bavarian artist known for his intricate woodcarvings and religious sculptures adorning churches across southern Germany.

In the 19th century, a notable figure was Karl Keifer (1809-1877), a German-American businessman and industrialist who founded the Keifer Brewing Company in Philadelphia, one of the largest breweries in the United States at the time. Additionally, Wilhelm Keifer (1845-1912) was a German-born American politician who served as the 19th Governor of Ohio from 1891 to 1893.

The surname Keifer has also been associated with place names, such as the village of Keifersfelden in Bavaria, which likely derived its name from a family of coopers who lived in the area during the Middle Ages.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Keifer

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

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

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

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