# Keir (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Scottish Gaelic |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 751 |
| US rank (2010) | 30,946 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 411,113 people |
| Change since 2000 | -6.1% (800 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /kɪɹ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic ciar (“dark”) or Old Norse [Term?]. Hanks (2006) derived the name from Pictish/Proto-Brythonic *kaɨr (“a fort”), possibly via Scots keir.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Keir 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) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 0.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Keir in the United Kingdom.

## People named Keir

- Andrew Keir, British actor (1926-1997)

## Similar surnames

Kerr, Kier, Kerry, Kear, Kehr, Ker, Kaur, Karr, Khoury, Koury, Kohr, Kara.

## 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.