2010
#133,048
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 127
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Kirchhevel
A surname of German origin referring to someone from Kirchhevel, a place name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 133 Americans carry the last name Kirchhevel. That puts it at #145,028 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,577,100 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kirchhevel 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
133
1 in 2,577,100
Census rank
#145,028
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
116
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 116 bearers of the surname Kirchhevel in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145028th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchhevel, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kirchhevel
The surname Kirchhevel has its origins in the German language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the words "Kirche" meaning church and "Hevel" which was an old German word for hill or elevated ground. This suggests that the name originated from a location near a church situated on a hill or elevated area.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in historical documents from the 13th century, particularly in regions of present-day Germany and the Netherlands. One notable example is a reference to a Kirchhevel family in a land registry from the town of Aachen, dated around 1275.
In the 14th century, the Kirchhevel name appeared in various chronicles and records from the Rhineland area of Germany. This includes mentions of individuals such as Johannes Kirchhevel, a merchant born in 1348, and Aleidis Kirchhevel, a landowner from the city of Cologne, who lived between 1372 and 1429.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Kirchhevel name spread to other parts of Europe, including the Low Countries (present-day Belgium and the Netherlands). Records from this period mention notable figures like Willem Kirchhevel, a Dutch painter born in 1485, and Pieter Kirchhevel, a Flemish theologian and scholar who lived from 1529 to 1598.
In the 17th century, the Kirchhevel name gained prominence in the Holy Roman Empire, with several families of this surname holding noble titles and estates. One such example is the Kirchhevel family from the Duchy of Westphalia, whose members included Johann von Kirchhevel, a military commander born in 1612, and Maria Anna von Kirchhevel, a noblewoman known for her philanthropic work in the late 1600s.
As the centuries passed, the spelling of the name evolved, with variations like Kirchhövel, Kirchhoevel, and Kirchhöffel appearing in different regions. However, the core meaning and origin remained linked to the concept of a church on a hill or elevated ground.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirchhevel
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchhevel, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Kirchhevel 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 Kirchhevel surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.2% · 93
- Two or more races11.2% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 7
- Black or African American1.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kirchhevel
Kirchhevel 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
#145,028
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-11 bearers (-8.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,980 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #133,048 | 127 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #145,028 | 116 | 0.04 | -11 bearers (-8.7%) | Down 11,980 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 Kirchhevel 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 | #133,048 | #145,028 | -9.0% |
| Count | 127 | 116 | -8.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kirchhevel bearers went from 127 to 116 (-8.7% change). The surname moved down 11,980 positions in the national ranking, going from #133,048 to #145,028.
FAQ
Kirchhevel surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kirchhevel?
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the surname Kirchhevel. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,577,100 residents.
How common is Kirchhevel?
Kirchhevel ranks #145,028 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 116 people with the surname Kirchhevel. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (133), 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 Kirchhevel.
Has Kirchhevel become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kirchhevel went from 127 recorded bearers to 116. That is a decrease of 11 (-8.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #133,048 to #145,028.
What does the Census say about the background of Kirchhevel?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchhevel, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%). 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 Kirchhevel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (93 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kirchhevel appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.2%), Two or More Races (11.2%), Asian/Pacific Islander (6.0%). 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 Kirchhevel (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 Kirchhevel mean?
A surname of German origin referring to someone from Kirchhevel, a place name. 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 Kirchhevel (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 common is the surname Kirchhevel?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Kirchhevel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.