2000
#133,114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Kirchofer
A locational surname referring to someone from a place called Kirchhofen.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 134 Americans carry the last name Kirchofer. That puts it at #144,270 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,557,868 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kirchofer 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
134
1 in 2,557,868
Census rank
#144,270
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
117
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 117 bearers of the surname Kirchofer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 144270th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchofer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kirchofer
The surname Kirchofer is of German origin, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German words "Kirche" meaning church and "Hof" meaning yard or farm, suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name lived or worked near a church farm or estate.
The name is believed to have originated in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, where many villages and towns had church-owned lands and properties. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval tax records and property registers from the 13th and 14th centuries.
One of the earliest known references to the Kirchofer name appears in the Nuremberg Chronicles, a famous illustrated world history book published in 1493. The book mentions a certain Hans Kirchofer, a wealthy merchant from Augsburg, who lived in the late 15th century.
In the 16th century, the name gained prominence in the town of Kirchheim unter Teck in Baden-Württemberg, where a family of Kirchofers owned a successful brewery and tavern. Notable members of this family include Johann Kirchofer (1524-1588), a respected brewer and town councilor, and his son, Georg Kirchofer (1555-1621), who served as the town's mayor.
Another notable figure was Christoph Kirchofer (1638-1711), a Lutheran theologian and author from Saxony, who wrote several influential works on biblical exegesis and church history. His grandson, Johann Christoph Kirchofer (1689-1746), was a renowned jurist and professor of law at the University of Leipzig.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kirchofer name spread across various regions of Germany and beyond, as families migrated and settled in new areas. One prominent bearer of the name was Johann Friedrich Kirchofer (1785-1860), a German writer and philosopher from Württemberg, who published works on aesthetics and literary criticism.
Throughout its history, the Kirchofer surname has been associated with various professions, including clergy, academics, merchants, and landowners, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of those who carried this name.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirchofer
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchofer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Kirchofer 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 Kirchofer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 4
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kirchofer
Kirchofer 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
#136,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 123
+6 bearers (+5.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,335 places
2020
#144,270
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
-6 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,821 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #133,114 | 117 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #136,449 | 123 | 0.04 | +6 bearers (+5.1%) | Down 3,335 places |
| 2020 | #144,270 | 117 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 7,821 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 Kirchofer 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 | #136,449 | #144,270 | -5.7% |
| Count | 123 | 117 | -4.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -2.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kirchofer bearers went from 123 to 117 (-4.9% change). The surname moved down 7,821 positions in the national ranking, going from #136,449 to #144,270.
FAQ
Kirchofer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kirchofer?
Name Census estimates that about 134 living Americans carry the surname Kirchofer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,557,868 residents.
How common is Kirchofer?
Kirchofer ranks #144,270 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 117 people with the surname Kirchofer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (134), 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 Kirchofer.
Has Kirchofer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kirchofer went from 123 recorded bearers to 117. That is a decrease of 6 (-4.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #136,449 to #144,270.
What does the Census say about the background of Kirchofer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchofer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Kirchofer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (108 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kirchofer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Kirchofer (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 Kirchofer mean?
A locational surname referring to someone from a place called Kirchhofen. 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 Kirchofer (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 are called Kirchofer?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Kirchofer, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.