Explore the Family Name Kirsh

The meaning of Kirsh

Americanized form of German Kirsch, and a variant of the same Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname. Some characteristic forenames: Jewish Devorah, Hyman, Meir, Mendy, Moshe, Tsila.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, in terms of popularity, the surname 'Kirsh' saw a significant decline from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Kirsh ranked at 35,621, while by 2010, it had fallen to 44,808, a decrease of nearly 26%. The count of individuals with this surname also fell during this period, from 597 to 479, representing nearly a 20% drop. Additionally, the proportion of people named Kirsh per 100,000 decreased by over 27%, falling from 0.22 in 2000 to 0.16 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#35,621	#44,808	-25.79%
Count	597	479	-19.77%
Proportion per 100k	0.22	0.16	-27.27%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kirsh

Looking into ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the surname 'Kirsh' identified as White, although the percentage of such individuals dropped by approximately 5% between 2000 and 2010. There was, however, a notable increase in the percentage of individuals identifying as Black or Hispanic. In 2000, just 5.7% identified as Black, rising to 8.98% in 2010, while those identifying as Hispanic rose from 0.84% to 1.88%. The proportion of individuals who identified with two or more ethnicities also increased moderately. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.29%	87.89%	-4.77%
Black	5.7%	8.98%	57.54%
Hispanic	0.84%	1.88%	123.81%
Two or More Races	0.84%	1.04%	23.81%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%