2000
#4,297
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,636
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.83
Rare Last name
Keyser
A German occupational surname referring to a maker or keeper of keys, locks, or safes.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,252 Americans carry the last name Keyser. That puts it at #4,763 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.41 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 41,536 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Keyser surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Keyser with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
8.3K
1 in 41,536
Census rank
#4,763
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,196 bearers of the surname Keyser in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.41 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4763rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Keyser, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Keyser
The surname Keyser is of German origin, derived from the German word "Keiser" meaning "emperor" or "caesar." The name first emerged during the medieval period, likely in the 12th or 13th century, and was originally used to identify individuals who worked for or had some association with the imperial court or the Holy Roman Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Keyser can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval documents from the German region of Saxony, which mentions a certain "Hermannus Keiser" in a document dated 1202. This suggests that the name was already in use by the early 13th century.
In the 14th century, the name Keyser appeared in various historical records across German-speaking regions, including the Annales Colonienses, a medieval chronicle from Cologne, which mentions a "Johannes Keyser" in an entry from 1376.
The name Keyser was also associated with certain place names, such as Keyserlingk, a village in what is now Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, which was first mentioned in a document from 1350 as "Keyserlinge," likely referring to the presence of individuals bearing the Keyser surname in the area.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Keyser was Johann Keyser (c. 1520-1586), a German Protestant theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the Reformation in Saxony.
Another notable figure was Adriaen Keysers (c. 1560-1615), a Dutch engraver and printmaker who was active in Antwerp during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In the 18th century, Johann Georg Keyser (1693-1740) was a German architect and builder who worked in Saxony and designed several notable buildings, including the Frauenkirche in Dresden.
The 19th century saw the rise of Nicola Keyser (1835-1909), a German industrialist and founder of the Keyser'sche Maschinenbauanstalt, a leading manufacturer of industrial machinery based in Chemnitz, Saxony.
Lastly, Rudolf Keyser (1877-1946) was a German-American lawyer and judge who served as a justice on the New York Supreme Court and played a role in the prosecution of high-profile criminal cases in the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keyser
Among Census respondents with the surname Keyser, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Keyser bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Keyser surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.5% · 6,514
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 241
- Two or more races3.2% · 227
- Black or African American1.8% · 128
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 22
Timeline
Historical Census data for Keyser
Keyser appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#4,446
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,978
+342 bearers (+4.5%)
Per 100,000 2.70
Rank movement Down 149 places
2020
#4,763
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,196
-782 bearers (-9.8%)
Per 100,000 2.41
Rank movement Down 317 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,297 | 7,636 | 2.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,446 | 7,978 | 2.70 | +342 bearers (+4.5%) | Down 149 places |
| 2020 | #4,763 | 7,196 | 2.41 | -782 bearers (-9.8%) | Down 317 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Keyser surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #4,446 | #4,763 | -7.1% |
| Count | 7,978 | 7,196 | -9.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.70 | 2.41 | -10.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Keyser bearers went from 7,978 to 7,196 (-9.8% change). The surname moved down 317 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,446 to #4,763.
FAQ
Keyser surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Keyser?
Name Census estimates that about 8,252 living Americans carry the surname Keyser. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 41,536 residents.
How common is Keyser?
Keyser ranks #4,763 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.41 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,196 people with the surname Keyser. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,252), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.41 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.41 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Keyser.
Has Keyser become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Keyser went from 7,978 recorded bearers to 7,196. That is a decrease of 782 (-9.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,446 to #4,763.
What does the Census say about the background of Keyser?
Among Census respondents with the surname Keyser, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Keyser in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (6,514 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Keyser appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.5%), Hispanic (3.3%), Two or More Races (3.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Keyser (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Keyser mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a maker or keeper of keys, locks, or safes. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Keyser (2.41 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Keyser?
Want to know how common the surname Keyser is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.