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

Kitchener, 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 Kitchener surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kitchener in America

Kitchener is the 74375th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kitchener surname appeared 260 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kitchener.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kitchener 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 Kitchener

The surname Kitchener is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "cycene", meaning kitchen. It first emerged in the 13th century as an occupational surname for someone who worked in the kitchen of a monastery or large household.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1273, where it appears as "Adam le Kychener". The Hundred Rolls were administrative records compiled in England during the reign of King Edward I.

In the 14th century, the surname was also spelled as "Kechener" and "Kychener". During this time, it was closely associated with the town of Kitchener, now known as Weston Favell, near Northampton in England. The town's name itself derived from the Old English words "cycene" and "ær", meaning a place where kitchens were located.

One notable figure with the surname Kitchener was Sir John Kitchener, a 16th-century English diplomat and scholar who served as the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was born in 1532 and died in 1592.

Another prominent individual was Henry Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, a British Field Marshal and proconsul who played a central role in the Boer War and the early years of World War I. He was born in 1850 and died in 1916 when his ship, HMS Hampshire, was sunk by a German mine off the coast of Scotland.

In the 18th century, the Kitchener surname was also found in Scotland, possibly due to migration from England. One notable Scottish bearer was William Kitchener, a physician and medical writer born in Edinburgh in 1775. His works included "The Economy of the Eyes" and "Observations on Cancer".

Another individual with the surname was George Kitchener, an English artist and engraver active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is known for his engravings of portraits and landscapes, as well as his contributions to the "Beauties of England and Wales" series.

While the surname Kitchener is not extremely common, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and is deeply rooted in the English language and culture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kitchener

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

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

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

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