Explore the Family Name Keir

The meaning of Keir

Scottish (central): habitational name from a place in Dunblane (Perthshire) called Keir. The placename may be from Scots keir ‘ancient fortification’, or, if old, from the source of this, Brittonic or Pictish cair.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Keir has experienced a decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 28,166 with 800 individuals bearing this name equating to a proportion of 0.3 per 100,000 people. However, by 2010, the rank had dropped to 30,946 and the count of people with this name also decreased to 751, lowering the proportion to 0.25 per 100,000 people. This represents a -9.87% change in rank and a -6.13% change in count over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#28,166	#30,946	-9.87%
Count	800	751	-6.13%
Proportion per 100k	0.3	0.25	-16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Keir

Ethnicity-wise, the Keir surname is largely associated with white ethnicity according to the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, 93.38% of people with this surname identified as white, a figure that slightly dipped to 93.34% in 2010. The second most common ethnic identity among those with the Keir surname is Hispanic, making up 2.50% in 2000 and 2.40% in 2010. Notably, the percentage of individuals identifying as two or more races increased by 26.98%, from 0.63% in 2000 to 0.80% in 2010. There were marginal changes in other ethnic identities such as Asian/Pacific Islander and Black, which both saw increases, while American Indian and Alaskan Native saw a decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.38%	93.34%	-0.04%
Hispanic	2.5%	2.4%	-4%
Black	1.88%	2%	6.38%
Two or More Races	0.63%	0.8%	26.98%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	1%	0.8%	-20%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.63%	0.67%	6.35%