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

Kessinger, 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 Kessinger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kessinger in America

Kessinger is the 7933rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kessinger surname appeared 4,170 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 Kessinger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kessinger 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 Kessinger

The surname Kessinger is believed to have originated in Germany, with its earliest known roots dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the German word "Kesselring," which translates to "a maker or seller of cauldrons or kettles." This occupational surname was likely given to an individual who worked as a coppersmith or a metalworker specializing in the production of these vessels.

The name Kessinger can be found in various historical records from the regions of Bavaria and Württemberg in southern Germany. One of the earliest recorded instances of this surname appears in the town of Nürnberg in 1548, where a blacksmith named Hans Kessinger was mentioned in the local guild registry.

As the name spread across different regions, it underwent several spelling variations, such as Kesselring, Kesselringer, and Kessinger. These variations were often influenced by local dialects and the phonetic preferences of the scribes who recorded the names.

In the 17th century, the Kessinger name appeared in the records of the Thirty Years' War, a conflict that ravaged much of central Europe between 1618 and 1648. A notable figure from this period was Johann Kessinger (1587-1647), a military commander who fought for the Protestant forces during the war.

Another notable bearer of this surname was Friedrich Kessinger (1701-1778), a German botanist and horticulturist who made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy and the cultivation of rare species.

As the Kessinger family spread across Europe and beyond, several individuals with this surname left their mark on various fields. Among them was Johann Kessinger (1823-1897), a German-American artist known for his landscape paintings depicting scenes from the American West.

In the 20th century, one of the most prominent figures with the Kessinger surname was William Kessinger (1919-2008), an American musician and pioneer of bluegrass music. He was widely regarded as one of the finest mandolin players of his time and influenced countless musicians in the genre.

Another notable individual was Hans Kessinger (1922-2003), a German-born author and historian who wrote extensively on the history of the Third Reich and the Holocaust. His works shed light on the atrocities committed during that period and played a crucial role in preserving the memory of those events.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kessinger

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

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

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

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