Explore the Family Name Kirch

The meaning of Kirch

German: from Middle High German kirche ‘church’, hence a topographic name for someone living by a church or a metonymic occupational name for someone employed by the church.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Kirch has seen an increase in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, the rank of this surname was 16,931 with a count of 1,550 which represented approximately 0.57 per 100,000 people. By 2010, the popularity had risen, changing the rank to 15,970 and the count increased to 1,818, which is about 0.62 per 100,000 people. This marks a positive change of 5.68 in rank and a 17.29 increase in the count over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,931	#15,970	5.68%
Count	1,550	1,818	17.29%
Proportion per 100k	0.57	0.62	8.77%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kirch

In terms of ethnicity, the census data reveals a shift in the distribution of ethnic identities associated with the surname Kirch between 2000 and 2010. The majority of individuals with this surname identified as White, although there was a slight decrease from 97.55% in 2000 to 95.60% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic doubled from 0.90% to 1.93%. There was also a notable increase in the number of people identifying as two or more races, rising from 0.71% to 1.38%. Interestingly, the proportion of people with this surname who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander went from 0% to 0.61%, while the Black category saw a decrease from 0.45% to 0%. No individuals with the Kirch surname identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.55%	95.6%	-2%
Hispanic	0.9%	1.93%	114.44%
Two or More Races	0.71%	1.38%	94.37%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.61%	0%
Black	0.45%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%