How common is the surname Kearns?

15,136 people in the United States had the surname Kearns in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 20,398 Americans. It ranked 2,394th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Kearns?

Doris Kearns Goodwin, American biographer and historian (born 1943), followed by Joseph Kearns.

Where is the surname Kearns most common?

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

Is the surname Kearns getting more or less common?

More common. 14,234 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 15,136 in 2010, up 6.3%.

The surname Kearns

An Irish surname, carried by 15,136 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex K652

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kearns is more common than 98.5% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

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

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 15,136 people named Kearns in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 20,398 Americans. That is up 6.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 14,234.

#2,394

rank among US surnames

15,136

people in 2010

5.1

per 100,000 Americans

+6.3%

change since 2000 (was #2,330)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,385	Hearn	15,234	20,267
#2,387	Watt	15,211	20,298
#2,388	Roque	15,203	20,308
#2,389	Pyle	15,180	20,339
#2,390	Kitchen	15,170	20,352
#2,391	Guillory	15,161	20,364
#2,392	Chong	15,146	20,385

Who is named Kearns

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

92% of people named Kearns identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.7% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kearnss

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Doris Kearns Goodwin
American biographer and historian (born 1943)
Joseph Kearns
American actor (1907-1962)
Matilda Kearns
Australian water polo player, born 2000

Notable Kearnss come mostly from the United States (2) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Kearns

Kearns has the Soundex code K652, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K652.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Kearns come from?: Anglicized form of Irish Ó Céirín, a personal name derived from a diminutive of ciar (“dark”).
How common is the surname Kearns?: 15,136 people in the United States had the surname Kearns in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 20,398 Americans. It ranked 2,394th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kearns?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Kearns identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.7% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kearns?: Doris Kearns Goodwin, American biographer and historian (born 1943), followed by Joseph Kearns.
Where is the surname Kearns most common?: Wikidata records people named Kearns in the United States and Australia.
Is the surname Kearns getting more or less common?: More common. 14,234 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 15,136 in 2010, up 6.3%.
What are other spellings of Kearns?: Carnes and Karns.