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

Kirchhoff, 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 Kirchhoff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kirchhoff in America

Kirchhoff is the 15748th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kirchhoff surname appeared 1,851 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 Kirchhoff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kirchhoff 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 Kirchhoff

The surname Kirchhoff originates from Germany, where it first emerged during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German words "Kirche" meaning church and "hof" meaning courtyard or farm. This suggests that the name was originally given to someone who lived near a church or worked on church property.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 13th century, when a certain Henricus de Kirchhoff was mentioned in the records of the city of Cologne in 1275. The name also appears in various other medieval documents from regions such as Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

In the 14th century, the Kirchhoff name was associated with a noble family from the town of Kirchhoff near Soest in Westphalia. Members of this family held influential positions and were involved in local politics and governance.

During the Renaissance period, a notable figure bearing the Kirchhoff name was Johannes Kirchhoff (1545-1620), a German mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the field of optics and is credited with the invention of the Kirchhoff's laws of electrical circuits.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Gustav Kirchhoff (1824-1887), a German physicist who made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of spectroscopy. He is best known for his work on the Kirchhoff's laws of thermodynamics and the Kirchhoff's radiation law.

In the 19th century, the Kirchhoff name gained further recognition through the work of Adolf Kirchhoff (1826-1908), a German philologist and expert in classical Greek literature. He is particularly renowned for his edition of the works of the ancient Greek poet Pindar.

The surname Kirchhoff has also been associated with several places in Germany, such as the town of Kirchhoff in North Rhine-Westphalia and the village of Kirchhoff in Lower Saxony. These locations likely contributed to the spread and variation of the name over time.

While the Kirchhoff surname has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora. However, its origins can be traced back to the medieval period, when it was closely tied to the church and religious institutions in various regions of what is now modern-day Germany.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kirchhoff

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

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

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

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