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

Kukla, 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 Kukla surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kukla in America

Kukla is the 16675th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kukla surname appeared 1,718 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 Kukla.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kukla 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 Kukla

The surname Kukla originated in Poland, with roots dating back to the 15th century. It is derived from the Polish word "kukla," which means "puppet" or "doll." This suggests that the name may have initially been given as a nickname to someone who worked as a puppet maker or performer.

In the early days, the name was primarily concentrated in the regions of Silesia and Greater Poland, where it was commonly found in historical records and documents. One of the earliest known mentions of the name appears in the "Akta Grodzkie" (Court Records) from the town of Kalisz in 1483, referring to a certain "Jan Kukla."

The Kukla surname can also be traced back to the village of Kukla, located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship of northern Poland. This village likely played a role in the dissemination of the name throughout the region.

Over the centuries, the name has undergone various spelling variations, such as Kuklinski, Kuklowicz, and Kukliński, reflecting the linguistic evolution and regional dialects of the Polish language.

Notable individuals bearing the Kukla surname include:

1. Fran Kukla (1886-1957), an American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the early 20th century.
2. Fran Allison (née Frances Kukla, 1907-1989), an American actress and comedian best known for her work on the children's television series "Kukla, Fran and Ollie."
3. Burr Tillstrom (1917-1985), an American puppeteer and the creator of the iconic "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" show, which featured the character Kukla, a puppet with the surname.
4. Janusz Kukliński (1930-2004), a Polish colonel and Cold War spy who passed important Soviet military secrets to the United States.
5. Chris Kukla (born 1973), an American politician and lawyer who served as the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut from 2019 to 2021.

While the Kukla surname may have humble beginnings as a nickname for puppet makers, it has since become a respected family name that has been carried across generations and continents, leaving an indelible mark on various fields, from sports and entertainment to politics and espionage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kukla

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

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

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

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