2000
#16,480
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,606
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.60
Rare Last name
Kliewer
A German surname likely derived from the German word "Kliebe" meaning clay or chalk pit.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,937 Americans carry the last name Kliewer. That puts it at #16,512 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.57 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 176,951 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kliewer 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
1.9K
1 in 176,951
Census rank
#16,512
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,689 bearers of the surname Kliewer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.57 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 16512th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kliewer, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kliewer
The surname Kliewer has its origins in the Low German or Plattdeutsch language spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. It is derived from the word "Kliever," which means "cleaver" or "wedge." This suggests that the name may have originally been an occupational surname for someone who worked with wedges or cleavers, possibly in professions such as woodcutting or carpentry.
The earliest recorded instances of the Kliewer name date back to the 16th century in the Prussian region of Germany, particularly in the area around the city of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland). The earliest known bearer of the name was Hans Kliewer, who was mentioned in church records from the village of Tiegenhof near Danzig in 1567.
In the 17th century, many Kliewer families migrated from Prussia to the Russian Empire, where they settled in the Mennonite colonies of southern Ukraine and the Volga region. This was part of a larger migration of Mennonites from Prussia to Russia, seeking religious freedom and new agricultural opportunities.
One notable Kliewer from this period was Gerhard Kliewer (1690-1755), a Prussian-born Mennonite minister and leader who helped establish the Mennonite colony of Chortitza in present-day Ukraine in 1789.
As the Mennonite communities in Russia faced increasing persecution in the late 19th century, many Kliewer families emigrated again, this time to North America. They settled in various regions, including Manitoba, Canada, and the Great Plains states of the United States, such as Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota.
Among the prominent Kliewer individuals in North America was Jacob W. Kliewer (1863-1944), a Mennonite teacher, writer, and editor from Ukraine who settled in Hillsboro, Kansas, and played a significant role in the Mennonite educational system in the region.
Another notable figure was Delmar Kliewer (1901-1977), an American Mennonite minister and author from Newton, Kansas, who wrote extensively on Mennonite history and theology.
In the 20th century, the Kliewer name also gained recognition in the field of academia, with individuals like Dorothy Kliewer (1920-2003), an American psychologist and professor at the University of Southern California, and Heinz Kliewer (1921-2005), a German-American chemist and professor at the University of Idaho.
Overall, the surname Kliewer has a rich history spanning several centuries and continents, reflecting the migrations and resilience of the Mennonite communities that carried this name from its origins in Prussia to its eventual establishment in various parts of North America.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kliewer
Among Census respondents with the surname Kliewer, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Kliewer 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 Kliewer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.8% · 1,551
- Two or more races3.7% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 11
- Black or African American0.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kliewer
Kliewer 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
#17,268
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,640
+34 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 0.56
Rank movement Down 788 places
2020
#16,512
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,689
+49 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 0.57
Rank movement Up 756 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #16,480 | 1,606 | 0.60 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #17,268 | 1,640 | 0.56 | +34 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 788 places |
| 2020 | #16,512 | 1,689 | 0.57 | +49 bearers (+3.0%) | Up 756 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 Kliewer 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 | #17,268 | #16,512 | 4.4% |
| Count | 1,640 | 1,689 | 3.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.56 | 0.57 | 0.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kliewer bearers went from 1,640 to 1,689 (+3.0% change). The surname moved up 756 positions in the national ranking, going from #17,268 to #16,512.
FAQ
Kliewer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kliewer?
Name Census estimates that about 1,937 living Americans carry the surname Kliewer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 176,951 residents.
How common is Kliewer?
Kliewer ranks #16,512 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.57 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 1,689 people with the surname Kliewer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,937), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.57 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.57 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 Kliewer.
Has Kliewer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kliewer went from 1,640 recorded bearers to 1,689. That is an increase of 49 (+3.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #17,268 to #16,512.
What does the Census say about the background of Kliewer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kliewer, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Kliewer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (1,551 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kliewer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.8%), Two or More Races (3.7%), Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Kliewer (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 Kliewer mean?
A German surname likely derived from the German word "Kliebe" meaning clay or chalk pit. 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 Kliewer (0.57 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 Kliewer?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Kliewer at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.