How common is the surname Keller?

98,268 people in the United States had the surname Keller in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,142 Americans. It ranked 317th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Keller?

Helen Keller, American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968), followed by Evelyn Fox Keller.

Where is the surname Keller most common?

Wikidata records people named Keller in the United States, Austria and Switzerland and 3 other countries.

Is the surname Keller getting more or less common?

More common. 94,300 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 98,268 in 2010, up 4.2%.

The surname Keller

A surname, carried by 98,268 people in the United States.

2 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). Keller is more common than 99.8% of them.

Origin

* As a German surname, from Keller (“storehouse”). * As an English surname, from queller (“hangman, executioner, killer”). * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, spelling variant of Keillor, from gu leòr (“plenty, enough, sufficient”) (comparable to galore).

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 98,268 people named Keller in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 3,142 Americans. That is up 4.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 94,300.

#317

rank among US surnames

98,268

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+4.2%

change since 2000 (was #290)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#308	Pearson	101,836	3,032
#309	Curtis	101,801	3,033
#310	Cortez	101,694	3,036
#311	Douglas	101,458	3,043
#312	Schneider	101,290	3,048
#313	Joseph	100,959	3,058
#314	Barrett	100,104	3,084

Who is named Keller

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

91% of people named Keller identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.9% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 91%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.9%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kellers

33 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Helen Keller
American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968)
Evelyn Fox Keller
American physicist, author and feminist, 1936–2023
Kasey Keller
American soccer player (born 1969)
Klete Keller
American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, world record-holder, born 1982
Joseph Keller
American mathematician (1923–2016)
Rachel Keller
American actress, born 1991
Timothy J. Keller
American pastor (1950–2023)
Clayton Keller
American ice hockey player, born 1998
Mary Page Keller
American actress, born 1961
Thomas Keller
American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer, born 1955
John Keller
Basketball player, 1928–2000
Hiram Keller
American actor (1944-1997)

Notable Kellers come mostly from the United States (27), Austria (2) and Switzerland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Keller

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

Questions

Where does the surname Keller come from?: * As a German surname, from Keller (“storehouse”). * As an English surname, from queller (“hangman, executioner, killer”). * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, spelling variant of Keillor, from gu leòr (“plenty, enough, sufficient”) (comparable to galore).
How common is the surname Keller?: 98,268 people in the United States had the surname Keller in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,142 Americans. It ranked 317th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Keller?: In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Keller identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.9% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Keller?: Helen Keller, American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968), followed by Evelyn Fox Keller.
Where is the surname Keller most common?: Wikidata records people named Keller in the United States, Austria and Switzerland and 3 other countries.
Is the surname Keller getting more or less common?: More common. 94,300 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 98,268 in 2010, up 4.2%.