2000
#12,573
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,259
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.84
Rare Last name
Kirchoff
Derived from the German word "kirchhof," meaning a churchyard or cemetery, likely referring to someone who lived nearby.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,225 Americans carry the last name Kirchoff. That puts it at #14,695 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 154,047 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kirchoff 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
2.2K
1 in 154,047
Census rank
#14,695
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,940 bearers of the surname Kirchoff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14695th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kirchoff
The surname Kirchoff has its origins in Germany, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is a locational surname derived from the German words "kirche" meaning "church" and "hof" meaning "courtyard" or "farm." This suggests that the name likely referred to someone who lived near a church or worked on a church-owned property.
One of the earliest known records of the name Kirchoff can be found in the town of Hildesheim, in Lower Saxony, Germany, where a family by the name of Kirchoff is mentioned in a local census from 1583. The name was also present in other regions of Germany, with variations in spelling such as Kirchhoff, Kirchhofer, and Kirchhoffer appearing in historical documents from different areas.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, several notable individuals bearing the surname Kirchoff emerged. One such figure was Johannes Kirchoff (1638-1689), a German theologian and author from Lübeck who wrote extensively on religious topics. Another was Johann Caspar Kirchoff (1700-1776), a German musician and composer from Altenburg who is credited with composing numerous sacred works and operas.
The name also gained prominence in the field of science with Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887), a renowned German physicist who made significant contributions to the study of electrical circuits and spectroscopy. His work, particularly the Kirchhoff's laws of circuit analysis and his research on the continuous spectrum of black-body radiation, laid the foundation for modern physics and earned him widespread recognition.
In the realm of literature, the name is associated with the German writer and dramatist, Hermann Kirchoff (1839-1912), who was known for his historical plays and novels set in ancient Greece and Rome. His works, such as "Herakles" and "Die Töchter des Thespis," explored themes of heroism and the classical world.
Another notable figure was the German archaeologist and philologist, Adolf Kirchhoff (1826-1908), who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek inscriptions and was instrumental in deciphering and publishing various epigraphic texts from the Greek world.
While these are just a few examples, the surname Kirchoff has a rich history spanning several centuries and has been associated with individuals from diverse fields, including science, literature, music, and theology, among others.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kirchoff
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Kirchoff 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 Kirchoff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.9% · 1,803
- Two or more races2.7% · 53
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 49
- Black or African American0.7% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kirchoff
Kirchoff 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
#13,682
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,213
-46 bearers (-2.0%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Down 1,109 places
2020
#14,695
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,940
-273 bearers (-12.3%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 1,013 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,573 | 2,259 | 0.84 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,682 | 2,213 | 0.75 | -46 bearers (-2.0%) | Down 1,109 places |
| 2020 | #14,695 | 1,940 | 0.65 | -273 bearers (-12.3%) | Down 1,013 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 Kirchoff 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 | #13,682 | #14,695 | -7.4% |
| Count | 2,213 | 1,940 | -12.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.75 | 0.65 | -13.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kirchoff bearers went from 2,213 to 1,940 (-12.3% change). The surname moved down 1,013 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,682 to #14,695.
FAQ
Kirchoff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kirchoff?
Name Census estimates that about 2,225 living Americans carry the surname Kirchoff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 154,047 residents.
How common is Kirchoff?
Kirchoff ranks #14,695 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,940 people with the surname Kirchoff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,225), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Kirchoff.
Has Kirchoff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kirchoff went from 2,213 recorded bearers to 1,940. That is a decrease of 273 (-12.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,682 to #14,695.
What does the Census say about the background of Kirchoff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kirchoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Kirchoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.9% (1,803 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kirchoff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.9%), Two or More Races (2.7%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Kirchoff (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 Kirchoff mean?
Derived from the German word "kirchhof," meaning a churchyard or cemetery, likely referring to someone who lived nearby. 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 Kirchoff (0.65 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 Americans have the surname Kirchoff?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.