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

Kirchner, 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 Kirchner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kirchner in America

Kirchner is the 3554th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kirchner surname appeared 10,044 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Kirchner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kirchner 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 Kirchner

The surname Kirchner is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "kirchenherre," which means "lord of the church" or "church warden." It is believed to have emerged as an occupational name for a person who was responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of a church or served as a church official.

The earliest known record of the name Kirchner dates back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany, such as Bavaria and Saxony. During this period, the name was often written as "Kirchherre" or "Kirchherr" before evolving into its modern form, Kirchner.

One of the earliest documented references to the name Kirchner can be found in the Nuremberg Chronicles, a famous illustrated world history book published in 1493. The book mentions a certain "Hans Kirchner" from the town of Erfurt, who was a notable scholar and theologian during the late 15th century.

In the 16th century, the Kirchner name gained prominence in the southern German states, particularly in Bavaria and Württemberg. One notable figure was Johann Kirchner (1505-1562), a Lutheran theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation.

Another important figure was Johann Georg Kirchner (1637-1700), a German jurist and legal scholar from Saxony. He was widely respected for his work on the reform of criminal law and is considered one of the founders of modern criminal law.

In the 18th century, the name Kirchner was associated with the town of Kirchberg, located in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. The town's name is derived from the German words "Kirche" (church) and "Berg" (mountain), suggesting a connection between the Kirchner surname and this geographical location.

One of the most notable individuals with the surname Kirchner was the German painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), a founding member of the influential avant-garde group Die Brücke (The Bridge). His vibrant, expressionist paintings and woodcuts were instrumental in shaping the modern art movement in the early 20th century.

In the 20th century, the name Kirchner gained global recognition with the rise of Néstor Kirchner (1950-2010), an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. His wife, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, succeeded him as the President of Argentina from 2007 to 2015.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kirchner

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

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

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

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