Explore the Family Name Kernahan

The meaning of Kernahan

Irish (Antrim and Down): variant of Kernaghan.

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

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

The surname Kernahan saw minor changes in its popularity from 2000 to 2010, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Kernahan ranked as the 85,643rd most popular surname with a count of 203 occurrences. A decade later, in 2010, its rank fell slightly to 90,495 with a minimal increase in its count to 204. This represents a rank change of -5.67% and a count change of just 0.49%. The proportion of people with the surname Kernahan for every 100,000 U.S. residents also decreased by 12.5%, from 0.08 in 2000 to 0.07 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#85,643	#90,495	-5.67%
Count	203	204	0.49%
Proportion per 100k	0.08	0.07	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kernahan

In terms of ethnic identity, the surname Kernahan was predominantly associated with individuals identifying as White, as per the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, 84.73% of those with this surname identified as White, a figure which marginally dwindled to 83.33% in 2010. Over the same period, there was a slight increase in the number of people with this surname who identified as Hispanic, going from 0% in 2000 to 3.43% in 2010. There was also a decline in those identifying as Black, from 11.33% in 2000 to 9.80% in 2010. Additionally, in 2010, 2.45% of people with the surname Kernahan reported belonging to two or more races, a category not recorded in 2000. No individuals with this surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native during either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	84.73%	83.33%	-1.65%
Black	11.33%	9.8%	-13.5%
Hispanic	0%	3.43%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	2.45%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%