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

Kellner, 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 Kellner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kellner in America

Kellner is the 7673rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kellner surname appeared 4,329 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 Kellner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kellner 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 Kellner

The surname Kellner is of German origin and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the old German word "kellner," which means "cellar master" or "steward." This occupation-based surname was likely given to individuals who worked in cellars or stewarded estates, managing household affairs.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kellner appears in the Buxheim Chronicles, a 15th-century manuscript from the Buxheim Charterhouse in Bavaria. The entry, dated 1412, mentions a certain "Hainrich Kellner" who was a citizen of Memmingen, a town in the region.

In the 16th century, the surname Kellner can be found in various historical records across German-speaking regions. For instance, the Reformation-era theologian and reformer Johannes Kellner (1505-1570) was born in Nuremberg and played a significant role in the spread of Lutheranism in the city.

The name Kellner also has associations with places and regions. In some cases, the surname may have derived from place names such as Kellnersdorf, a village in Saxony, or Kellnersgrün, a municipality in Thuringia. These place names suggest a connection to areas where cellars or wine-making were prevalent.

Notable individuals with the surname Kellner include:

1. David Kellner (1670-1753), a German-born architect and engineer who worked in Russia and designed several notable buildings in St. Petersburg.
2. Louise Kellner (1858-1909), an Austrian painter and illustrator known for her portraits and landscapes.
3. Leon Kellner (1859-1928), a German-born American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Kellner Department Store chain in New York City.
4. Bernhard Kellner (1879-1951), a German astronomer and pioneer in the field of photography, known for his contributions to astrophotography.
5. Alfred Kellner (1904-1976), an Austrian-born American mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of differential geometry and partial differential equations.

While the surname Kellner has its roots in Germany and the German-speaking regions of Europe, it has since spread globally through migration and diaspora. However, its origins can be traced back to the medieval occupational titles and place names associated with cellar management and stewardship.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kellner

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!