2000
#62,396
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 300
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.11
Very Rare Last name
Kleiser
A German occupational surname meaning carpenter or woodworker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 316 Americans carry the last name Kleiser. That puts it at #75,363 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.09 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,084,666 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kleiser 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
316
1 in 1,084,666
Census rank
#75,363
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
276
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 276 bearers of the surname Kleiser in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.09 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 75363rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kleiser, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kleiser
The surname KLEISER is of German origin, originating in the 16th century from the southern regions of Germany. It is believed to be derived from the German word "klein," meaning small or little, and may have been an occupational name given to someone of small stature or a nickname for a young man.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name KLEISER can be found in the town records of Nürnberg, where a Johann Kleiser was listed as a resident in 1587. In the nearby village of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a family by the name of Kleiser is mentioned in a church registry from 1612.
The name KLEISER also appears in historical documents from the Palatinate region of Germany, where a Johann Christoph Kleiser was born in Wachenheim an der Weinstraße in 1671. He later became a renowned theologian and author, publishing several works on religious topics.
In the 18th century, the name KLEISER spread to other parts of Europe as German families migrated eastward. A notable figure was Friedrich Kleiser, born in 1792 in Breslau, Silesia (now Wrocław, Poland). He was a prolific writer and translator, known for his German translations of works by Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Another individual of note was Ezra Kleiser, born in 1868 in Alsace-Lorraine (then part of Germany). He emigrated to the United States in the late 19th century and became a successful businessman in the advertising industry, founding the Kleiser Advertising Agency in New York City.
Other notable individuals with the surname KLEISER include Wilhelm Kleiser (1840-1917), a German sculptor and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, and Gregor Kleiser (1906-1987), an Austrian author and playwright who wrote extensively about life in rural Austria.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kleiser
Among Census respondents with the surname Kleiser, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Kleiser 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 Kleiser surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.5% · 247
- Two or more races4.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 12
- Black or African American0.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kleiser
Kleiser 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
#68,770
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 286
-14 bearers (-4.7%)
Per 100,000 0.10
Rank movement Down 6,374 places
2020
#75,363
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 276
-10 bearers (-3.5%)
Per 100,000 0.09
Rank movement Down 6,593 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #62,396 | 300 | 0.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #68,770 | 286 | 0.10 | -14 bearers (-4.7%) | Down 6,374 places |
| 2020 | #75,363 | 276 | 0.09 | -10 bearers (-3.5%) | Down 6,593 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 Kleiser 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 | #68,770 | #75,363 | -9.6% |
| Count | 286 | 276 | -3.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.10 | 0.09 | -7.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kleiser bearers went from 286 to 276 (-3.5% change). The surname moved down 6,593 positions in the national ranking, going from #68,770 to #75,363.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Kleiser
FAQ
Kleiser surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kleiser?
Name Census estimates that about 316 living Americans carry the surname Kleiser. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,084,666 residents.
How common is Kleiser?
Kleiser ranks #75,363 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.09 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 276 people with the surname Kleiser. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (316), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.09 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.09 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 Kleiser.
Has Kleiser become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kleiser went from 286 recorded bearers to 276. That is a decrease of 10 (-3.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #68,770 to #75,363.
What does the Census say about the background of Kleiser?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kleiser, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Kleiser in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (247 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kleiser appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.5%), Two or More Races (4.7%), Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Kleiser (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 Kleiser mean?
A German occupational surname meaning carpenter or woodworker. 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 Kleiser (0.09 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 Kleiser?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Kleiser at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.