Explore the Family Name Kales

The meaning of Kales

1. Greek: variant of Kalles (see Kallis) or Kalis. 2. Turkish (Kaleş): unexplained. 3. Czech (Káles and Kaleš) and Dutch: from an old vernacular form of the Latin personal name Calixtus (see Calixto). Compare Kalis.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Kales in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname "Kales" has experienced a mild increase between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, the surname was ranked at 74,957 but climbed to 73,215 in 2010, showing a growth rate of 2.32%. The count of individuals bearing the surname also rose from 240 to 265 within the same period, reflecting a growth of 10.42%. However, the proportion per 100,000 people remained consistent at 0.09, indicating that the rise in the number of people with the surname did not significantly impact its overall prevalence.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#74,957	#73,215	2.32%
Count	240	265	10.42%
Proportion per 100k	0.09	0.09	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kales

When discussing the ethnicity associated with the Kales surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows considerable changes between 2000 and 2010. The proportion of individuals identifying as White decreased from 87.08% to 77.74%, while those identifying as Hispanic and Black saw significant increases. The percentage of Hispanics more than doubled from 2.50% to 5.28%, and the percentage for Black individuals rose from 8.75% to 13.58%. There were also some individuals who began identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander by 2010, which was not the case in 2000. Notably, the numbers for American Indian and Alaskan Native and those identifying as two or more races remained static during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	87.08%	77.74%	-10.73%
Black	8.75%	13.58%	55.2%
Hispanic	2.5%	5.28%	111.2%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	2.26%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%