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

Kellenberger, 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 Kellenberger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kellenberger in America

Kellenberger is the 21019th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kellenberger surname appeared 1,251 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kellenberger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kellenberger 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 Kellenberger

The surname Kellenberger originated in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland and southwestern Germany, likely in the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is a locational surname, derived from the place name Kellenberg, which means "cellar mountain" or "cellar hill" in German. This suggests that the name may have originated with someone who lived near or on a hill or mountain with cellars or underground storage areas.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland, where a Heinricus Kellenberger was mentioned in a document from 1349. The name also appears in various historical records from the nearby German regions of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria during the 15th and 16th centuries.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, as the Kellenberger family spread across Switzerland and Germany, variations in spelling emerged, including Kellenberger, Kellenberg, Kellenburger, and Kellenburg. These different spellings reflected regional dialects and the preferences of local record-keepers.

Notable figures throughout history with the surname Kellenberger include Johann Rudolf Kellenberger (1765-1831), a Swiss politician and member of the Tagsatzung, the former federal assembly of Switzerland. Another prominent individual was Edouard Kellenberger (1888-1970), a Swiss diplomat and the first Secretary-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, serving from 1950 to 1960.

In the 20th century, Ernst Kellenberger (1923-2004) was a Swiss mineralogist and crystallographer who made significant contributions to the study of crystal structures using X-ray diffraction techniques. Victor F. Kellenberger (1929-2014) was a Swiss businessman and philanthropist who founded the Kellenberger Group, a leading manufacturer of precision measuring instruments.

Additionally, Markus Kellenberger (born 1980) is a contemporary Swiss professional ice hockey player who has represented Switzerland in several international competitions, including the Winter Olympics and World Championships.

While the Kellenberger name has its roots in the German-speaking regions of central Europe, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and intermarriage, with various spellings and pronunciations emerging in different cultural contexts.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kellenberger

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

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

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

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