How common is the surname Kerr?

44,711 people in the United States had the surname Kerr in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,905 Americans. It ranked 771st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Kerr?

Miranda Kerr, Australian model, followed by Deborah Kerr.

Where is the surname Kerr most common?

Wikidata records people named Kerr in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.

Is the surname Kerr getting more or less common?

More common. 42,758 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 44,711 in 2010, up 4.6%.

The surname Kerr

A patronymic surname, carried by 44,711 people in the United States.

Pronounced /kɛɹ/ 1 syllable Soundex K600

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kerr is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

* 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”).

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

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 44,711 people named Kerr in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 6,905 Americans. That is up 4.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 42,758.

#771

rank among US surnames

44,711

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+4.6%

change since 2000 (was #729)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#762	Cordova	45,305	6,815
#763	Barajas	45,153	6,838
#764	Roach	45,019	6,858
#765	Rosas	44,938	6,870
#766	Winters	44,914	6,874
#767	Jacobson	44,808	6,890
#768	Lester	44,784	6,894

Who is named Kerr

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

87% of people named Kerr identified as white (not Hispanic), 7.5% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 87%
Black (not Hispanic) 7.5%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kerrs

30 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Miranda Kerr
Australian model, born 1983
Deborah Kerr
British actress (1921–2007)
Steve Kerr
American basketball player and coach, born 1965
Sam Kerr
Australian soccer player, born 1993
John Kerr
American actor and lawyer (1931–2013)
Warwick Estevam Kerr
Brazilian entomologist (1922–2018)
Jordan Kerr
Australian tennis player, born 1979
Mark Kerr
American mixed martial arts fighter, born 1968
Johnny Kerr
American basketball player and coach (1932–2009)
Cristie Kerr
American golfer, born 1977
Errol Kerr
American-Jamaican ski cross racer, 2010 Olympian and excavation foreman
Robert S. Kerr
American politician (1896–1963)

Notable Kerrs come mostly from the United States (19), Australia (4) and the United Kingdom (3).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Kerr

Kerr has the Soundex code K600, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K600.

Questions

Where does the surname Kerr come from?: * 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…
How common is the surname Kerr?: 44,711 people in the United States had the surname Kerr in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,905 Americans. It ranked 771st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kerr?: In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Kerr identified as white (not Hispanic), and 7.5% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kerr?: Miranda Kerr, Australian model, followed by Deborah Kerr.
Where is the surname Kerr most common?: Wikidata records people named Kerr in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Kerr?: Kerr is /kɛɹ/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Kerr?: Kerr is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Kerr getting more or less common?: More common. 42,758 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 44,711 in 2010, up 4.6%.