Explore the Family Name Kirkeby

The meaning of Kirkeby

Danish and Norwegian: habitational name from a place called Kirkeby (or, in the case of the Norwegian name, from any of ten farmsteads so named), from Old Norse kirkja ‘church’ + býr ‘settlement, farm’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Kirkeby has seen a slight decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked as the 41,722nd most common surname, but by 2010, it dropped to the 43,151st position, marking a decrease of 3.43%. However, the actual count of individuals with this surname slightly increased from 491 in 2000 to 501 in 2010, representing an increase of 2.04%. The proportion per 100k also saw a small dip by 5.56%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#41,722	#43,151	-3.43%
Count	491	501	2.04%
Proportion per 100k	0.18	0.17	-5.56%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kirkeby

In terms of ethnic identity associated with the surname Kirkeby, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of people with this surname identify as White, accounting for 95.72% in 2000 and slightly decreasing to 94.41% in 2010. Notably, there was a significant increase in those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, rising by 56.86% between 2000 and 2010. Additionally, a new ethnic group emerged within this ten-year period: Hispanic individuals, who accounted for 1.40% in 2010. Those identifying with two or more races slightly decreased from 2.24% to 2.00%. There were no changes in the percentage of individuals identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.72%	94.41%	-1.37%
Two or More Races	2.24%	2%	-10.71%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.02%	1.6%	56.86%
Hispanic	0%	1.4%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%