How common is the surname Kiernan?

5,966 people in the United States had the surname Kiernan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 51,751 Americans. It ranked 5,802nd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Kiernan?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Kiernan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Kiernan?

Ben Kiernan, Australian-born American historian (born 1953), followed by Francis Kiernan.

Where is the surname Kiernan most common?

Wikidata records people named Kiernan in Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Is the surname Kiernan getting more or less common?

More common. 5,668 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,966 in 2010, up 5.3%.

The surname Kiernan

A surname, carried by 5,966 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex K655

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kiernan is more common than 96.4% of them.

Origin

From Irish Tighearnán, from Tighearna (“lord”).

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 5,966 people named Kiernan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 51,751 Americans. That is up 5.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,668.

#5,802

rank among US surnames

5,966

people in 2010

2.0

per 100,000 Americans

+5.3%

change since 2000 (was #5,614)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,796	Slate	5,969	51,725
#5,799	Truax	5,968	51,734
#5,801	Schick	5,967	51,742
#5,802	Kiernan	5,966	51,751
#5,804	Sadowski	5,965	51,760
#5,805	Hendershot	5,963	51,777

Who is named Kiernan

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

95% of people named Kiernan identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
Two or more races 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kiernans

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ben Kiernan
Australian-born American historian (born 1953)
Francis Kiernan
Anatomist and physician (1800–1874)

Notable Kiernans come mostly from Australia (1) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Kiernan

Kernan

Kiernan has the Soundex code K655, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K655.

Questions

Where does the surname Kiernan come from?: From Irish Tighearnán, from Tighearna (“lord”).
How common is the surname Kiernan?: 5,966 people in the United States had the surname Kiernan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 51,751 Americans. It ranked 5,802nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kiernan?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Kiernan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Kiernan?: Ben Kiernan, Australian-born American historian (born 1953), followed by Francis Kiernan.
Where is the surname Kiernan most common?: Wikidata records people named Kiernan in Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Is the surname Kiernan getting more or less common?: More common. 5,668 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,966 in 2010, up 5.3%.