Kepler
An astronomical name for a boy referring to the famous mathematician.
Name Census estimates that about 419 living Americans carry the first name Kepler. It is a predominantly male name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Kepler today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kepler births was 2016 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kepler. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
419
~ 1 in 818,029 Americans
Peak year
2016
42 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,486
Tracked since 1997
Census
Kepler in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 397 people with the first name Kepler, which placed it at #24,319 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,319
National first-name rank
People counted
397
397 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kepler
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kepler is White at 57.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.6%) and Two or More Races (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kepler described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kepler at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.2% · 227
- Black or African American17.6% · 70
- Two or more races10.8% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Kepler
Kepler leans heavily male at 98.6% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kepler as a male name
- Ranked #4,486 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (42 births)
Kepler as a female name
- Ranked #14,478 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kepler leans strongly male. 370 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 26 female bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Kepler: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kepler from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 218 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kepler remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kepler by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kepler during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Keplers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kepler
The name Kepler is a German surname that has its origins in the German word "kepler," which means "barrel maker." The name first emerged in the Middle Ages, during the 14th and 15th centuries, when it was used as an occupational surname for those who worked in the trade of making barrels and other wooden containers.
Although the name Kepler was initially a surname, it eventually became adopted as a given name in its own right. One of the earliest and most famous individuals to bear the name Kepler as a given name was the renowned German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Kepler made significant contributions to the field of astronomy, including the discovery of the laws of planetary motion, now known as Kepler's Laws.
Another notable historical figure with the name Kepler was the German poet and novelist Christian Kepler (1737-1801). He was a prominent figure in the German literary movement known as Sturm und Drang, and his works often explored themes of individualism and rebellion against societal norms.
In the realm of science, the name Kepler is also associated with the American astronomer and astrophysicist Johann Kepler (1888-1963). He made significant contributions to the study of stellar atmospheres and the development of modern astrophysics.
Moving into the 20th century, Kepler was the name of the German-born American architect and urban planner Rudolph Kepler (1906-1986). He was known for his work in sustainable urban design and was a pioneer in the field of ecological architecture.
More recently, the name Kepler has been associated with the American astronaut and engineer Kepler Barsamian (1961-present). He was a crew member on several Space Shuttle missions and has also worked on the development of advanced spacecraft propulsion systems.
While the name Kepler has its roots in the German language and was initially an occupational surname, it has since transcended its original meaning and become a given name in its own right, carried by notable figures in various fields throughout history, from astronomy and literature to architecture and space exploration.
People
Kepler + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kepler as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kepler: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kepler?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 419 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kepler going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 818,029 US residents.
Is Kepler a common name?
We classify Kepler as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 422 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kepler most popular?
The single biggest year for Kepler was 2016, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kepler is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kepler in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 397 people with the name Kepler, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,319 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kepler in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kepler?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kepler leans strongly male. 370 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 26 female bearers (6.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kepler?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kepler is White at 57.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.6%) and Two or More Races (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kepler most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kepler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.2% (227 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kepler in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kepler a male name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Kepler in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kepler still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kepler in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kepler can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Kepler?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Kepler on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.