2000
#7,752
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,952
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.46
Rare Last name
Kittrell
An English occupational surname referring to a maker of kettles or cauldrons.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,455 Americans carry the last name Kittrell. That puts it at #8,155 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.30 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 76,937 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kittrell 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
4.5K
1 in 76,937
Census rank
#8,155
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,885 bearers of the surname Kittrell in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.30 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8155th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kittrell, the largest self-reported group is White at 66.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kittrell
The surname Kittrell is of Anglo-Saxon origin and can be traced back to the ancient English county of Devon, where it was derived from a place name. The earliest recorded spelling of the name was Kitterel, found in the Pipe Rolls of Devon in 1195. It is believed to have originated from the Old English words "cyte" meaning cottage and "rel" meaning ridge, thus referring to someone who lived by a cottage on a ridge.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Robert Kitterel, who was mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1292. The surname also appears in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, where it is recorded as Kyterel.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name underwent various spelling variations, including Kittrell, Kittrall, Kitterell, and Kytterell. It is recorded that a John Kitterell was a landowner in the parish of Sampford Brett, Somerset, in 1586.
In the early colonial period of North America, the name Kittrell appeared in Virginia, with records showing a Robert Kittrell who was granted land in New Kent County in 1679. Another early bearer of the name was James Kittrell, who was born in Virginia in 1692 and later settled in Granville County, North Carolina.
Notable individuals with the surname Kittrell include Sir John Kittrell (1564-1635), an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Tavistock in 1614; Thomas Kittrell (1772-1834), an American soldier who served in the War of 1812; and William Kittrell (1816-1888), a Confederate soldier and politician from Tennessee.
Other historical figures bearing the name Kittrell include Robert Kittrell (1798-1879), an American farmer and politician from Mississippi; and John Kittrell (1825-1903), a Baptist minister and educator who founded Kittrell College in North Carolina in 1886.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kittrell
Among Census respondents with the surname Kittrell, the largest self-reported group is White at 66.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Kittrell 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 Kittrell surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.1% · 2,568
- Black or African American26.4% · 1,027
- Two or more races4.2% · 164
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 98
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kittrell
Kittrell 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
#7,987
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,140
+188 bearers (+4.8%)
Per 100,000 1.40
Rank movement Down 235 places
2020
#8,155
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,885
-255 bearers (-6.2%)
Per 100,000 1.30
Rank movement Down 168 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,752 | 3,952 | 1.46 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,987 | 4,140 | 1.40 | +188 bearers (+4.8%) | Down 235 places |
| 2020 | #8,155 | 3,885 | 1.30 | -255 bearers (-6.2%) | Down 168 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 Kittrell 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 | #7,987 | #8,155 | -2.1% |
| Count | 4,140 | 3,885 | -6.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.40 | 1.30 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kittrell bearers went from 4,140 to 3,885 (-6.2% change). The surname moved down 168 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,987 to #8,155.
FAQ
Kittrell surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kittrell?
Name Census estimates that about 4,455 living Americans carry the surname Kittrell. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 76,937 residents.
How common is Kittrell?
Kittrell ranks #8,155 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.30 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 3,885 people with the surname Kittrell. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,455), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.3 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.30 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 Kittrell.
Has Kittrell become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kittrell went from 4,140 recorded bearers to 3,885. That is a decrease of 255 (-6.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,987 to #8,155.
What does the Census say about the background of Kittrell?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kittrell, the largest self-reported group is White at 66.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Kittrell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.1% (2,568 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kittrell appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (66.1%), Black (26.4%), Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Kittrell (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 Kittrell mean?
An English occupational surname referring to a maker of kettles or cauldrons. 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 Kittrell (1.30 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 have the last name Kittrell?
See how many people have the surname Kittrell on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.