How common is the surname Kelleher?

9,714 people in the United States had the surname Kelleher in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 31,784 Americans. It ranked 3,663rd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Kelleher?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Kelleher identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Kelleher?

Tim Kelleher, American actor, followed by Herb Kelleher.

Where is the surname Kelleher most common?

Wikidata records people named Kelleher in the United States.

How do you pronounce Kelleher?

Kelleher is /ˈkɛləhɚ/, 3 syllables.

Is the surname Kelleher getting more or less common?

More common. 9,535 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,714 in 2010, up 1.9%.

The surname Kelleher

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 9,714 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkɛləhɚ/ 3 syllables Soundex K460

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kelleher is more common than 97.7% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

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.

Kelleher is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

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 9,714 people named Kelleher in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 31,784 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 9,535.

#3,663

rank among US surnames

9,714

people in 2010

3.3

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #3,433)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,654	Cha	9,732	31,725
#3,655	Melo	9,731	31,728
#3,656	Keaton	9,723	31,754
#3,657	Handley	9,722	31,757
#3,659	Ledezma	9,721	31,761
#3,660	Binder	9,720	31,764
#3,662	Xie	9,716	31,777

Who is named Kelleher

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

95% of people named Kelleher identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.1% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kellehers

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Tim Kelleher
American actor, born 1956
Herb Kelleher
American businessman (1931–2019)
Tim Kelleher
American musician, born 1980

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Kelleher

Kelleher has the Soundex code K460, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K460.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Kelleher come from?: 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”,…
How common is the surname Kelleher?: 9,714 people in the United States had the surname Kelleher in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 31,784 Americans. It ranked 3,663rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kelleher?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Kelleher identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Kelleher?: Tim Kelleher, American actor, followed by Herb Kelleher.
Where is the surname Kelleher most common?: Wikidata records people named Kelleher in the United States.
How do you pronounce Kelleher?: Kelleher is /ˈkɛləhɚ/, 3 syllables.
What type of surname is Kelleher?: Kelleher is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Kelleher getting more or less common?: More common. 9,535 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,714 in 2010, up 1.9%.