# Kelleher (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/kelleher/  
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 | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 9,714 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,663 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 31,784 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.9% (9,535 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɛləhɚ/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Irish Ó Céileachair (“descendant of Céileachar”), from the male given name Céileachar (literally “spouse-loving”), from céile (“spouse, companion”), from Old Irish céile, from Primitive Irish ᚉᚓᚂᚔ (celi, “follower, devotee”, genitive), from Proto-Celtic *keiliyos; + -ach (“of”, relation-forming suffix), from Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celtic *-ākos, from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂kos, *-eh₂ḱos.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Kelleher 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) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.1% |
| Two or more races | 1.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Kelleher in the United States.

## People named Kelleher

- Tim Kelleher, American actor
- Herb Kelleher, American businessman (1931–2019)
- Tim Kelleher, American musician

## Similar surnames

Kelliher, Keleher, Keller, Koehler, Keeler, Kellar, Koeller, Kehler, Kohler, Koller, Kahler, Kaylor.

## 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.