Kemmer last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Kemmer

A surname derived from the Middle High German word "kemmer", meaning a comb maker.

Kemmer, 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 Kemmer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kemmer in America

Kemmer is the 15692nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kemmer surname appeared 1,859 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 Kemmer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kemmer 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 15692 18087 -14.18%
Count 1,859 1,421 26.71%
Proportion per 100k 0.63 0.53 17.24%

The history of the last name Kemmer

The surname "KEMMER" is believed to have originated in Germany, where it first appeared in historical records during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Old German word "kammer," which referred to a room or chamber, suggesting that the original bearer of the name may have been someone associated with such a place, perhaps a chamberlain or a servant in a noble household.

One of the earliest known references to the name "KEMMER" can be found in a document from the city of Augsburg, dated 1387, which mentions a certain "Hans Kemmer." This suggests that the name was already well-established in that region by the late 14th century.

Over time, the name "KEMMER" spread to other parts of Germany and neighboring regions, with variations in spelling emerging, such as "Kammer," "Kemmerer," and "Kemmerle." These variations likely arose due to local dialects and the inconsistencies in record-keeping during that era.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name was Johann Kemmer (1520-1586), a Lutheran theologian and reformer from Saxony, who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in that region.

Another historical figure was Johann Philipp von Kemmer (1670-1737), a German nobleman and military officer who served as a general in the Imperial Army during the War of the Spanish Succession.

In the 19th century, Carl Friedrich Kemmer (1819-1888) was a prominent German architect known for his work in the neo-Renaissance style, including the design of several notable buildings in Berlin.

The name "KEMMER" also found its way to other parts of Europe, including the Netherlands, where a Dutch artist named Jan Kemmer (1776-1824) gained recognition for his landscape paintings.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in Pennsylvania, where a man named Adam Kemmer settled in the late 18th century, having emigrated from Germany.

While the name "KEMMER" may not be among the most common surnames today, it has a rich historical lineage, with its roots firmly planted in the medieval German regions, where it first emerged as a surname denoting a connection to a chamber or room.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kemmer

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

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 Kemmer was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 92.58% 1,721
Non-Hispanic Black Only 2.04% 38
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.54% 10
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.81% 15
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.56% 29
Hispanic Origin 2.47% 46

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 Kemmer has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 92.58% 92.54% 0.04%
Black 2.04% 2.81% -31.75%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.54% 0.56% -3.64%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.81% 0.70% 14.57%
Two or More Races 1.56% 1.41% 10.10%
Hispanic 2.47% 1.97% 22.52%

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

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

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"Kemmer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/kemmer-surname-popularity/.

"Kemmer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/kemmer-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Kemmer last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/kemmer-surname-popularity/.

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