# Kerr (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/kerr/  
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 | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 44,711 |
| US rank (2010) | 771 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 6,905 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.6% (42,758 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /kɛɹ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English and Scottish topographic surname for someone who lived by a patch of wet ground overgrown with brushwood, from Middle English kerr (“brushwood”), possibly related to Irish Gaelic ceàrr (“left-handed”) and/or Old Norse kjarr. * As an Irish surname, variant of Carr. * As a German surname, Americanized from Kehr. * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, from mac gille chéir (“son of the dusky laid”), from ciar (“black”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Kerr 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) | 87% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 7.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Kerr in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Austria and Scotland.

## People named Kerr

- Miranda Kerr, Australian model
- Deborah Kerr, British actress (1921–2007)
- Steve Kerr, American basketball player and coach
- Sam Kerr, Australian soccer player
- John Kerr, American actor and lawyer (1931–2013)
- Warwick Estevam Kerr, Brazilian entomologist (1922–2018)
- Jordan Kerr, Australian tennis player
- Mark Kerr, American mixed martial arts fighter
- Johnny Kerr, American basketball player and coach (1932–2009)
- Cristie Kerr, American golfer
- Errol Kerr, American-Jamaican ski cross racer, 2010 Olympian and excavation foreman
- Robert S. Kerr, American politician (1896–1963)

and 18 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Karr, Kier, Kerry, Kear, Kehr, Keir, Ker, Kaur, 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.