Explore the Family Name Kerl

The meaning of Kerl

German: status name from Middle Low German kerl ‘(free)man (of non-aristocratic descent)’, Middle High German kerl(e), karl(e) ‘man, lover, chap’. Some characteristic forenames: German Hanns, Klaus, Frieda, Helmut, Helmuth, Otto.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Kerl saw a slight dip in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the surname fell from 33,020 to 35,812 indicating an 8.46% drop. Simultaneously, the count - that is the number of people with this surname - also decreased from 654 to 627 marking a 4.13% reduction. This led to a decrease in proportion per 100k people from 0.24 to 0.21 which signifies a 12.5% fall.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#33,020	#35,812	-8.46%
Count	654	627	-4.13%
Proportion per 100k	0.24	0.21	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kerl

In terms of its ethnic identity, the distribution shows some changes as well, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, those who identified as White held the majority at 87.31%, but this proportion dropped by 5.19% to 82.78% in 2010. Black identifiers increased slightly from 9.02% to 10.85% over the decade. The percent of those associating with two or more races had a small growth from 1.68% to 1.75%. Interestingly, there were new groups identifying with the surname: Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic populations appeared in 2010 with 1.12% and 2.23% respectively. The American Indian and Alaskan Native group also saw a substantial increase in representation from 0.76% in 2000 to 1.28% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	87.31%	82.78%	-5.19%
Black	9.02%	10.85%	20.29%
Hispanic	0%	2.23%	0%
Two or More Races	1.68%	1.75%	4.17%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.76%	1.28%	68.42%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.12%	0%