# Kidney (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/kidney/  
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) | 1,250 |
| US rank (2010) | 21,034 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 246,996 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.9% (1,192 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From a mistranslation of Irish Ó Dubháin (“descendant of Dubhán”) (directly rendered in English as Duane), a personal name from a diminutive of dubh (“black”). This was confused with dubhán (“kidney”), which in fact is a derivative of dubh (“black”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Kidney 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) | 1.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Two or more races | 0.9% |

## Similar surnames

Kidane, Keaton, Keeton, Khatun, Katona, Khatoon.

## 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.