# Kearns (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/kearns/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 15,136 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,394 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 20,398 people |
| Change since 2000 | +6.3% (14,234 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Carnes, Karns |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Céirín, a personal name derived from a diminutive of ciar (“dark”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Kearns in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 92% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Kearns in the United States and Australia.

## People named Kearns

- Doris Kearns Goodwin, American biographer and historian (born 1943)
- Joseph Kearns, American actor (1907-1962)
- Matilda Kearns, Australian water polo player

## Similar surnames

Kerns, Karnes, Karns, Kerins, Kranz, Kornegay, Kring, Krenz, Krenek, Karnik.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.