Submitted Surnames on the United States Popularity List
This is a list of submitted surnames in which the name appears on the United States popularity list.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
KesslerGerman, Jewish Means "kettle-maker, tinker", denoting a maker of copper or tin cooking vessels, derived from Middle High German kezzel meaning "kettle, cauldron". In some instances, it could have referred to the shape of a landform.
KestelEnglish Habitational name from Kestle, a place in Cornwall, so named from Cornish castell "castle, village, rock".
KestelootBelgian (Modern) No idea whatsoever as to the origin of the surname other than it is of Belgian origin.
KetayEnglish (British) It was first used by the great kin Richard skinner-ketay.He ruled over his land fairly and was well respected by his subjects.
KetayEnglish (British) It was first used by the great king Richard skinner-ketay wh ruled over his land fairly and wisely and his subjects respected and loved him.
KevilleEnglish Denoted someone from Keevil (recorded in the Domesday book as Chivele), a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, probably derived from Old English c¯f meaning "hollow" and leah meaning "woodland clearing".
KewishScottish, Manx The surname Kewish was first found in on the Isle of Uist, in the Hebrides in Scotland, which is named for the Irish King, Colla Uais who was deposed in Ireland by Muedach Tireach and was banished with 300 of their principal chiefs to the Hebrides in 327 A.D. They became known as the kingdom of Ailech and gave birth to the kindred of St... [more]
KeyworthEnglish Habitational name from Keyworth in Nottinghamshire. The place name derives from an uncertain initial element (perhaps Old English ca "jackdaw") and Old English worþ "enclosure".
KhalifeLebanese (Gallicized) French version of the Arabic name Khalifa which means “successor of Mohammed” used by Lebanese Christians ever since the French occupation of Lebanon.
KhansariPersian Actual meaning is unknown; originated in the Iranian tribe the Kurds.
KhanumBengali, Urdu From an aristocratic title traditionally used as an honorific for Muslim women in the Middle East and South Asia. It is derived from a feminine form of the title khan meaning "king, ruler", which is probably of Mongolian origin.
KharchenkoUkrainian From Ukrainian харчування (kharchuvannya), meaning "food, sustenance".
KharitonovmRussian Means "son of Khariton". Nikolay Kharitonov was the KPRF's candidate for the 2024 Russian elections.
KhatKhmer From Chinese 凯 meaning "triumphant","victorious"
KhatchadourianArmenian Variant of Khachaturian. This was the surname of Eva Khatchadourian, the mother of Kevin Khatchadourian, a school shooter in the 2003 fictional novel We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.
KhatriIndian, Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali Name for a member of the Kshatriya caste, derived from Sanskrit क्षत्रिय (kshatriya) referring to the Hindu caste consisting of kings, warriors and soldiers, ultimately from क्षत्र (kshatra) meaning "power, might, dominion".
KhooChinese (Hokkien) Hokkien spellig of the surname Qiu. This Means a person who lived near a mound, dune or hill. This spelling is found amongst Hokkien and Hakka families in Southeast Asia
KicklighterAmerican Americanized spelling of German Kückleiter, literally ‘chicken ladder’, probably a nickname for a chicken farmer.
KidaJapanese From Japanese 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
KidderEnglish English: possibly an occupational name from early modern English kidd(i)er ‘badger’, a licensed middleman who bought provisions from farmers and took them to market for resale at a profit, or alternatively a variant of Kidman... [more]
KidmanEnglish English: occupational name, probably for a goatherd (from Middle English kid(e) ‘young goat’ + man ‘man’), but possibly also for a cutter of wood used for fuel. (from Middle English kidde ‘faggot’ (an archaic English unit for a bundle of sticks)).
KidneyIrish Surname translated from Irish surname Duane to English Kidney Mainly found in County Cork. Original Irish clan name is Ó Dubháin.
KidoJapanese From Japanese 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood" or 城 (ki) meaning "castle" combined with 戸 (to) meaning "door".
KidwellWelsh, English The origins of this surname are uncertain, but it may be derived from Middle English kidel "fish weir", denoting a person who lived by a fish weir or made his living from it, or from an English place called Kiddal, probably meaning "Cydda's corner of land" from the Old English given name Cydda and halh "nook or corner of land".
KieblerGerman Comes from the Middle High German word "kübel" meaning a "vat," or "barrel." As such it was an occupational name for a cooper, or barrel maker.
KiehlMedieval Low German From Middle Low German kil ‘wedge’, applied as a metonymic occupational name or as a pejorative nickname for a ruffian. Possibly a habitational name from Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein, from Dutch and Frisian kil ‘stagnant water’ (see Kiel)... [more]
KielGerman German surname of several possible origins and meanings.... [more]
KielDutch From Middle Dutch kidel, kedel "smock", hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who make such garments or perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore one. Also a Dutch habitational name from a place so named in Antwerp or from the German city Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein.
KienbaumGerman, Jewish from Low German kienbaum "Scots pine" originally denoting any species or variety of pine tree. Derived from kien "pine tree" and boum "tree".
KienerGerman Named after profession from Middle High German kien ‘pine chip, torch’ for someone who chips pine wood (wood from pine or spruce) and sells it (e.g. to smelters), a lumberjack or charcoal burner.... [more]
KiesGerman Either from Middle High German kis "gravel, shingle", denoting someone who lives in a gravelly place, or kiesen "to choose". Johann Kies (1713–1781) was a German astronomer and mathematician.
KieslerGerman Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of gravelly land, derived from Middle High German kisel or Old High German kisil meaning "pebble, gravel".
KiestlerGerman Possibly a form of Kistler an occupation name for a joiner or cabinet maker.
KikuchiJapanese From Japanese 菊 (kiku) meaning "chrysanthemum" and 池 (chi) meaning "pool, pond" or 地 (chi) meaning "earth, land, ground".
KikutaJapanese From Japanese 菊 (kiku) meaning "chrysanthemum" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
KilJewish Jewish (Ashkenazic) of uncertain origin; perhaps a nickname from Yiddish kil ‘cool’.
KilKorean There is one Chinese character for the Kil surname. In the 1930 census, there was a significantly larger number of Kils living in Korea; it was the 62nd most common name in Korea. In a census taken after the Korean War, however, it had dropped to 72nd... [more]
KilburgGerman, Luxembourgish "Kyll castle," from German burg (castle) near the Kyll river in Germany. Also "wedge mountain" in Swedish: kil (wedge) and berg (mountain).
KileNorwegian (Rare) Habitational name from any of thirteen farmsteads named Kile from, ultimately derived from Old Norse kíll "wedge" and, by extension, "narrow bay inlet".
KileyIrish, English Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic "O' Cadhla" meaning "son of Cadhla". Cadhla means meaning graceful or beautiful; hence, "descendant(s) of 'the graceful one'".
KilgallenIrish Kilgallen comes from the Irish name Mac Giolla Chaillin, meaning the son of a servant or devotee of St. Caillin.
KilgoreScottish Habitational name for someone from Kilgour in Fife, named with the Gaelic coille "wood" and gobhar, gabhar "goat".
KilmerGerman Variant of Gilmer, from the medieval personal name Gildemir or Gilmar, composed from the German gīsil, meaning "pledge", "hostage", or "noble offspring" and the Old German mâri meaning “famous”... [more]
KilpEstonian Kilp is an Estonian surname meaning both "shield" and "shell".
KilpatrickScottish Scottish: habitational name from Gaelic cill Padraig "church of (Saint) Patrick".
KilroyEnglish "Kilroy was here" was a phrase widely written up on walls by American service personnel in the UK during World War II. The identity of the probably mythical Kilroy has been much debated (one theory is that he was a shipyard inspector of Quincy, Massachusetts, who chalked the phrase on material he had checked).
KimmelGerman, Jewish Derived from Middle High German kumin and German kümmel meaning "caraway" (related to Latin cuminum, a word of Oriental origin, like the plant itself), hence a metonymic occupational name for a spicer, literally a supplier of caraway seeds... [more]
KimmichGerman The surname hence a metonymic occupational name for a spicer.
KimotoJapanese Derived from the Japanese kanji 木 (ki) or 樹 (ki) both meaning "tree, wood, plant" combined with 本 (moto) or 元 (moto) both meaning "base, root, origin".... [more]
KincaidScottish Scottish habitational name from a place near Lennoxtown, north of Glasgow, which is first recorded in 1238 as Kincaith and in 1250 as Kincathe... [more]
KindGerman, Jewish, Dutch From Middle High German kint, German Kind "child", hence a nickname for someone with a childish or naive disposition, or an epithet used to distinguish between a father and his son. In some cases it may be a short form of any of various names ending in -kind, a patronymic ending of Jewish surnames.
KindEnglish Nickname from Middle English kynde meaning "kind, type, nature" or "disposition", possibly used in the sense of "legitimate".
KindemEnglish 1 English: habitational name from a place in Derbyshire, of unknown etymology (probably a pre-English hill name, but the form is obscure).... [more]
KinderEnglish Habitational name derived from a place in Derbyshire, of unknown etymology.
KinderknechtGerman Occupational name for a servant in charge of the children at a manor, derived from kinder (plural of kind) meaning "child" and knecht meaning "servant".
KindermannGerman, Jewish occupational name for a schoolteacher literally "children man", from the elements kind "child" and man "man".
KindredEnglish From the Anglo-Saxon given name Cenered meaning "bold counsel" from the elements cene, cen (later kene) meaning "bold, brave, proud" and raed meaning "counsel".
KingsburyEnglish Habitational surname derived from several places in England with the same name, for example in northwest London (formerly Middlesex), Somerset, and Warwickshire. These are mostly named in Old English as cyninges burh meaning "the king’s stronghold", but the last mentioned is cynesburh meaning "stronghold of Cyne" (cyne is a short form of any of various compound names with cyne- meaning "royal" as the first element).
KingsfordEnglish English habitational name from any of various places named Kingsford, for example in Essex, Devon, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. The name ostensibly means ‘the king’s ford’, but the one in Worcestershire is named as Ceningaford ‘ford of Cena’s people’.
KinkleGerman Derived from the Middle High German word "kunkel," which meant "spindle." It is thus supposed that the first bearers of this surname were spindle makers in occupation.
KinoJapanese From 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood" and 野 (no) meaning "field, plain, wilderness".
KinoshitaJapanese From Japanese 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood", an unwritten possessive marker 之 (no), and 下 (shita) meaning "under, below".
KinsellaIrish From Gaelic Uí Ceinnsealaigh meaning "descendant of Cinnsealach", a given name probably meaning "chief warrior".
KinslowEnglish habitational name from Kingslow in Worfield (Shropshire). The placename means "king's tumulus" from Old English cyning "king" (genitive cyninges) and hlaw "tumulus burial mound hill".
KioJapanese From Japanese 木 (ki) meaning “tree, wood”, 城 (ki) meaning “castle, city”, combined with 大 (o) meaning “big, great, vast, high”, or 小 (o) meaning “small”.
KippingGerman German: habitational name from a place named with Middle High German kip ‘point’, ‘peak’ or from Kippingen in the Rhineland.
KippsGerman Topographical name for someone living on a hill, from Kippe 'edge', 'brink'.
KippsEnglish From Middle English Kipp, perhaps a byname for a fat man, from an unattested Old English form Cyppe, which according to Reaney is from the Germanic root kupp 'to swell'.
KircherGerman from Middle High German kirchner "minister, sexton patron" hence an occupational name for a priest or a church assistant.
KirchhoffGerman An old Norse origin surname. Combination of Norse word Kirkr and Hoff means 'garden'.
KirchmannGerman From Middle High German kirihha "church" and man "man" hence an occupational name for someone working in the service of the church or possibly a topographic name for someone living near a church... [more]
KirchoferGerman German topographic name for someone living near a churchyard, or habitational name for the proprietor or tenant of a farm named as "Church Farm", from Middle High German kirche "church" + hof "farmstead", "manor farm".
KirklandEnglish, Scottish Derived from the Scottish 'kirk', meaning church, and land. This name denoted one who lived near or tended to the land belonging to or surrounding a church. A famous /fictional/ bearer is Arthur Kirkland, a main character in the highly popular anime/webmanga Axis Powers Hetalia... [more]
KirkmanEnglish A name originally found in both Scotland and England. From Kirk- meaning "church" and -man for someone who lived near or worked at a church.
KirouacFrench (Quebec) From an unidentified place name in Brittany, France, derived from Breton kaer, caer, ker meaning "fortified settlement" and an unknown given name.
KirschenmannGerman from Middle High German kirsche "cherry" and man "man" an occupational name for a grower or seller of cherries or a topographic name.
KirschnerGerman (Silesian) From the German word "kirchenære." The other occupation is that of a furrier and, in this case, the name is derived from the word "kuerschner."