Kessler
surname · Latin script
Meaning: German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic); occupational name for a maker of copper cooking vessels, from an agent derivative of Middle High German kezzel ‘kettle’, ‘cauldron’
(measured from records)Officially recorded in 25 countries · latest register: BFS, 2024
Kessler is a surname written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the United States than in any other country.
- CHSwitzerland1 in 2.4K(measured from records)
- DEGermany≈1 in 4.8K
- GHGhana≈1 in 5.6Kfew records
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- United States (measured from records)
- Record sources
- 442 (measured from records)
- 1 in 2.4K (inferred from the name graph)
29,064 people, 2010
corpus datasets behind its best-documented spelling
strongest: highest-authority source
Switzerland
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Spellings & scripts
(measured from records)One other spelling is counted as the same name:
Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.
Meaning & origin
(measured from records)German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic); occupational name for a maker of copper cooking vessels, from an agent derivative of Middle High German kezzel ‘kettle’, ‘cauldron’. Middle Dutch ketel, modem German Kessel.
Cited for this meaning 1
- Dictionary of American Family Names
Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.
Where in the world
(measured from records)Kessler counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | #991 | 29,064 | 1 in 11K | 29K | Kessler | 442 |
| DE Germany | #161 | ≈17,000 est. | ≈1 in 4.8K | — | Kessler | 174 |
| GH Ghana | #429 | ≈5,300 est. | ≈1 in 5.6K | — | Kessler | 11 |
| GB United Kingdom | — | ≈4,100 est. | ≈1 in 16K | — | Kessler | 108 |
| CH Switzerland | #182 | 3,521 | 1 in 2.4K | 3.5K | Kessler | 80 |
| AT Austria | #536 | ≈1,200 est. | ≈1 in 7.5K | — | Kessler | 70 |
| JM Jamaica | #254 | ≈270 est. | ≈1 in 10K | — | Kessler | 2 |
29,064 people counted by Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010, 2010. Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010; BFS — Familiennamen der Wohnbevölkerung (surnames). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses
(measured from records)Kessler is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
In German, Berufsname 'Kesselmacher'; zeigt Inlaut-Varianz ss/ß gegenüber Kett-/Ket-; Bearer count: Rang 400 in Deutschland.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus
In German, Berufsname zu ahd./mhd./mnd. ketel 'Kessel'; ss/ß-Variation; Belege: Kessler 6002, Keßler 5498.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus
In German, Berufsname zu Kessel/Kesel 'Koch-, Wasch- oder Brennkessel'; zeigt ss/ß- und t(t)-Schreibung.
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus
In German, Familienname mit Schreibvariant Keßler; Karte zeigt Dentale: Affrikaten und Frikative, speziell ss/ß im Auslaut. 6002 Träger (Kessler), 5498 (Keßler).
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus
In German, zu mhd. kessel ‚Kessel‘; Berufs- oder Wohnstättenname, mit ss/ß- und t(t)-Varianz; Plate zeigt Konsonantenschwankung ss, ß/t(t).
as a nameDeutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 2: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen II, Konsonantismus
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name
(measured from records)- Harry von Kesslerb. 1868FRGerman art collector, patron, writer, publicist and diplomat (1868-1937)
- Heinz Keßlerb. 1920DEnot in their usual nameGerman military officer, Armeegeneral in the former National People's Army of East Germany (1920-2017)
- Bruce Kesslerb. 1936USAmerican racing driver, film/television director (1936–2024)
- Ellen Kesslerb. 1936DEGerman singer, dancer, and actress (1936-2025)
- Ronald C. Kesslerb. 1947USAmerican sociologist
- David Aaron Kesslerb. 1951USAmerican medical academic (born 1951)
- Michael Kesslerb. 1967DEGerman actor and comedian
- Glenn Kesslerb. 1970USAmerican screenwriter, television producer, actor, and director
- Todd A. Kesslerb. 1979USAmerican television director
- Walker Kesslerb. 2001USAmerican basketball player (born 2001)
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
How to address them
(machine-generated)Evidence
(measured from records)50 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 25 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010 | 2010 | 29K | #1,216 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000 | 2000 | 29K | #1,112 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020 | 2020 | 28K | #1,231 |
| CH Switzerland | BFS — Familiennamen der Wohnbevölkerung (surnames) | 2024 | 3.5K | #195 |
| US United States | wru Name Dictionary — US surnames, Census 2010 subset (Khanna et al.) | — | — | — |
Reference works 10
- Dictionary of American Family Names
- The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
- Rymut, Słownik nazwisk współcześnie w Polsce używanych (10 vols, IJP PAN, Kraków 1992–1994) — every Polish surname in the PESEL register at the end of 1990, with bearer counts nationally and per voivodeship1990
- Hoffman, Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings (2nd ed., 2012)
- jeantosti.com — Dictionnaire des noms de famille de France et d'ailleurs (Jean Tosti)
- Søndergaard, Georg, Danske efternavne (Lademann 1984/1991)
- Cognomix.it (Nomix s.r.l.) — Italian surname origin dictionary
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the name Kessler mean, and where does it come from?
- German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic); occupational name for a maker of copper cooking vessels, from an agent derivative of Middle High German kezzel ‘kettle’, ‘cauldron’. Recorded by Dictionary of American Family Names.
- In which country does Kessler have the most bearers?
- In the United States, the national register counted about 29 thousand people named Kessler, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled kessler.
- Where is Kessler most common?
- Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Kessler is densest in Switzerland — about 1 in 2.4 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.
- How common is the name Kessler?
- In the United States, the national register counted 29,064 people named Kessler in 2010, about 1 in 11 thousand residents.
- How common is Kessler compared with other names?
- In the United States, Kessler is the 991st most common surname of 6,282,806 surnames recorded there.
What do you want to know about Kessler?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/kesslerThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Kessler” — the 991st most common surname in United States. Data snapshot 2026-10-13.