Explore the Family Name Kienast

The meaning of Kienast

1. German and Swiss German: ocupational nickname from Middle High German kienast ‘branch of a pine-tree’ (compare 3 below). 2. German: habitational name from the placename Kynast in Silesia, named with the same word as in 1 above. 3. Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name composed of German Kiene ‘pine’ + Ast ‘branch’. Some characteristic forenames: German Kurt, Dieter, Gunter, Horst, Ilse.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Kienast experienced a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, this name was ranked 40,908th, while in 2010 it fell to 42,937th position, marking a drop by approximately 5%. Despite the fall in rank, the count of individuals bearing the surname Kienast increased marginally from 503 to 504 over the same period. However, when measured as a proportion per 100,000 people, there was a decrease of around 10.53%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#40,908	#42,937	-4.96%
Count	503	504	0.2%
Proportion per 100k	0.19	0.17	-10.53%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kienast

In terms of ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of Kienasts identify themselves as white, a figure that remained steady at about 94.83% in 2000 and 94.84% in 2010. The second most common ethnic identity is Hispanic, which saw a significant increase from 3.18% in 2000 to 4.56% in 2010, indicating a growth rate of nearly 43.4%. Other ethnic identities such as Asian/Pacific Islander, those belonging to two or more races, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native, were either absent or suppressed for privacy in the census data for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.83%	94.84%	0.01%
Hispanic	3.18%	4.56%	43.4%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%