2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Kintzley
A variant of the German surname "Kintzele", meaning "small child" or "young lad".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Kintzley. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kintzley 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.
Bearers in the US
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Kintzley in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kintzley, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kintzley
The surname Kintzley is believed to have originated in Germany during the medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the German word "kintz," which meant "child" or "young person," and the suffix "-ley," meaning "meadow" or "clearing." This suggests that the name may have referred to someone who lived in a meadow or clearing inhabited by children or young people.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kintzley can be found in the historical records of the town of Quedlinburg, located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In a document dated 1387, a man named Johann Kintzley is mentioned as a landowner in the area.
Another early reference to the name appears in the records of the city of Nuremberg, where a merchant named Hans Kintzley is documented as having traded goods with other merchants in the Hanseatic League during the 15th century.
The name Kintzley has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany, such as Kintzleibach, a small village in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Kintzelbach, a town in the state of Baden-Württemberg. These place names may have been derived from the surname or vice versa.
Notable individuals with the surname Kintzley include:
1. Friedrich Kintzley (1701-1783), a German composer and organist who served at the court of Frederick the Great in Prussia.
2. Hildegard Kintzley (1827-1902), a German novelist and poet known for her works depicting life in rural Germany.
3. Walter Kintzley (1879-1958), a German-American engineer who contributed to the development of the first successful helicopter design.
4. Elise Kintzley (1898-1972), a German-born American actress who appeared in several Broadway productions in the early 20th century.
5. Gerhard Kintzley (1923-2007), a German philosopher and academic who taught at the University of Heidelberg for over four decades.
While the surname Kintzley is not as common as some other German surnames, it has a rich history dating back to the Middle Ages and has been associated with various notable figures throughout the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kintzley
Among Census respondents with the surname Kintzley, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Kintzley 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 Kintzley surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.8% · 86
- Hispanic or Latino15.2% · 17
- Two or more races6.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kintzley
Kintzley appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
+9 bearers (+8.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 9,280 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | +9 bearers (+8.7%) | Up 9,280 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 Kintzley 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 | #157,234 | #147,954 | 5.9% |
| Count | 103 | 112 | 8.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 24.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kintzley bearers went from 103 to 112 (+8.7% change). The surname moved up 9,280 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #147,954.
FAQ
Kintzley surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kintzley?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Kintzley. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Kintzley?
Kintzley ranks #147,954 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 112 people with the surname Kintzley. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Kintzley.
Has Kintzley become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kintzley went from 103 recorded bearers to 112. That is an increase of 9 (+8.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Kintzley?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kintzley, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Kintzley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.8% (86 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kintzley appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (76.8%), Hispanic (15.2%), Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Kintzley (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 Kintzley mean?
A variant of the German surname "Kintzele", meaning "small child" or "young lad". 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 Kintzley (0.04 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 share the surname Kintzley?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.