Kyser
An inventive variant of the Germanic name Kaiser meaning "emperor" or "ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 399 living Americans carry the first name Kyser. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kyser today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyser births was 2019 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyser. 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
399
~ 1 in 859,033 Americans
Peak year
2019
36 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,966
Tracked since 1991
Census
Kyser in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 306 people with the first name Kyser, which placed it at #29,088 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
#29,088
National first-name rank
People counted
306
306 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kyser
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyser is White at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (22.5%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Kyser 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 Kyser at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.7% · 201
- Black or African American22.5% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 14
- Two or more races4.6% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 3
Popularity
Kyser: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyser 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 185 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kyser remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyser 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 Kyser during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kysers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyser
The name Kyser is believed to have its origins in the Germanic language, and it can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old German word "kīser," which means "emperor" or "ruler." This name was likely given to children as a sign of respect and admiration for the position of the emperor or as a way to express a desire for the child to grow up to be a leader.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kyser can be found in a medieval German manuscript from the 11th century, where it was used as a first name for a nobleman's son. This suggests that the name was popular among the upper classes and those with ties to the ruling elite during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kyser. One of the most famous was Kyser Soze, a legendary crime boss from the 1995 film "The Usual Suspects." While this character was fictional, his name has become synonymous with cunning and deception in popular culture.
In the 16th century, there was a German scholar named Kyser Brandt (1493-1545) who made significant contributions to the field of mathematics. He is credited with introducing the use of the plus and minus symbols in algebraic equations.
Another noteworthy figure was Kyser Wilhelm (1712-1789), a Prussian military officer who served under Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War. He is remembered for his tactical brilliance and his role in several key battles against the Austrians and Russians.
In the 19th century, Kyser Metzger (1826-1903) was a prominent German-American businessman and philanthropist in Philadelphia. He founded the Metzger Institute, which provided educational opportunities for underprivileged children.
More recently, Kyser Miree (1910-1998) was an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader who was popular during the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s. His band, Kyser Miree and His Orchestra, was known for their lively performances and innovative arrangements.
While the name Kyser may not be as common today as it once was, its historical roots and associations with leadership, scholarship, and cultural impact make it a unique and intriguing moniker.
People
Kyser + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyser 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
Kyser: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyser?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 399 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyser 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 859,033 US residents.
Is Kyser a common name?
We classify Kyser as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 403 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyser most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyser was 2019, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyser is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kyser in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 306 people with the name Kyser, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,088 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 Kyser 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 Kyser?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyser leans strongly male. 286 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 13 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Kyser?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyser is White at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (22.5%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Kyser most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kyser in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.7% (201 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 Kyser in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyser a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kyser 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 Kyser still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyser 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 Kyser 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 share the name Kyser?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.