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

Krill, 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 Krill surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Krill in America

Krill is the 21330th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Krill surname appeared 1,228 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 Krill.

We can also compare 2010 data for Krill 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 Krill

The surname Krill has its origins in the German language. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "krill," which means "dwarf" or "small person." The name likely originated in the southern regions of Germany, where it was first recorded in the 12th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Krill can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the Duchy of Bavaria. In this document, dated around 1180, a person named Heinricus Krill is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.

The name Krill also appears in various other historical records from the medieval period, such as the Liber Vitae, a manuscript from the Benedictine abbey of Remiremont in present-day France. Here, the name is spelled "Crillus," suggesting that the spelling was not yet standardized.

During the 13th century, the name began to spread beyond the borders of Germany. One notable example is Berthold Krill, a merchant from Nuremberg who established trade routes throughout Europe and is mentioned in records from cities like Genoa and Bruges.

In the 15th century, the surname Krill was also found in the Netherlands, where it was likely introduced by German immigrants. One of the earliest recorded Dutch individuals with this name was Jan Krill, a baker from Amsterdam who was born in 1462.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Krill. One of the most famous was Hans Krill (1490-1556), a German painter and woodcarver who was highly regarded for his religious artwork during the Renaissance.

Another significant figure was Johann Krill (1598-1666), a Baroque composer and organist from Nuremberg. His compositions were widely performed in churches across Germany during the 17th century.

In the 19th century, Karl Krill (1833-1912) was a German architect who designed several prominent buildings in Berlin, including the Reichstag building, which served as the home of the German parliament.

The surname Krill also gained recognition through the work of Gustav Krill (1876-1949), a German physicist who made important contributions to the study of X-rays and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1924.

Finally, one cannot overlook the legacy of Friedrich Krill (1897-1978), a German zoologist and oceanographer who conducted extensive research on Antarctic krill, a small crustacean that plays a crucial role in the marine ecosystem.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Krill

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!