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

Kleiner, 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 Kleiner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kleiner in America

Kleiner is the 12140th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kleiner surname appeared 2,566 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kleiner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kleiner 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 Kleiner

The surname Kleiner originated in Germany, tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages around the 12th century. The name is derived from the German word "klein," meaning small or little, and was likely a descriptive nickname initially given to someone of short stature or a child. It may have also been used to distinguish between two people with the same first name, with "Kleiner" referring to the smaller or younger of the two.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kleiner can be found in the "Codex Traditionum Westfalicarum," a medieval manuscript from the Westphalia region of Germany, dating back to the 13th century. This document contains a reference to a person named "Conradus Kleiner," suggesting the name was in use during that time period.

In the 14th century, the name Kleiner appeared in various historical records across different regions of Germany, including the "Urkundenbuch der Stadt Hildesheim" (Charter Book of the City of Hildesheim) and the "Urkundenbuch der Stadt Braunschweig" (Charter Book of the City of Brunswick). These records indicate the spread of the name throughout northern and central Germany.

One notable individual bearing the surname Kleiner was Johann Kleiner, a German theologian and academic who lived from 1615 to 1667. He served as a professor of theology at the University of Leipzig and was known for his contributions to the field of Protestant theology.

Another significant figure was Johann Baptist Kleiner, a German composer and organist born in 1793. He was a prominent figure in the musical scene of Bavaria and composed numerous works for the church and the court.

In the 19th century, the name Kleiner was associated with the town of Kleinermering, located in the district of Ebersberg in Bavaria. The town's name is believed to have derived from the surname Kleiner, suggesting the presence of a family or individuals with that surname in the area.

Another notable bearer of the Kleiner surname was Robert Kleiner, a German artist and painter born in 1891. He was known for his landscape paintings and worked extensively in the Bavarian and Austrian Alps regions, capturing the beauty of the natural scenery.

Finally, Erich Kleiner, a German mathematician and computer scientist born in 1923, made significant contributions to the field of computational complexity theory and authored several influential books on the subject.

While the surname Kleiner is more commonly found in Germany, it has also spread to other parts of Europe and the world through migration and diaspora, maintaining its connection to its German origins and the meaning of "small" or "little."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kleiner

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

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

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

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