Keller

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Keller is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French surname55K records spelled Keller5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Switzerland, Spain

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Kéller, Keĺler, Këĺľëř

• a separate surname29K records spelled Keller4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada

  Also written K-Eller, Kéller

• Russian surname17K records spelled Keller23 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Czechia

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Czech

  Also written Келлер, Келер, Keler, Кёлер, Кёллер

• Hindi surname4.9K records spelled Keller7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Sinhala

  Also written কেলার, Kéller

72 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Keller 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 English, metonymic for kellerer ‘maker of caps, cauls, etc.’; first attested Michael Keller 1296 IpmY

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In German, cellar

  as a word·A Frequency Dictionary of German

• In German, either an occupational name for a maker of caps or cauls, from Middle English kellere, or an occupational name for an executioner, from Old Enghsh cwellere.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In German, Berufsname: Kellermeister/Verwalter des Kellers; teils auch von 'Keller' = Gefängnis/Wohnstätte; Bearer count not stated.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 5: Familiennamen nach Beruf und persönlichen Merkmalen

• In German, Berufsname: Verwalter des Kellers/Kellermeisters; später teils auch zu 'Kellner' umgedeutet.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 5: Familiennamen nach Beruf und persönlichen Merkmalen

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.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 77 years between 1911–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Gottfried Kellerb. 1819CHSwiss poet and writer of German literature (1819–1890)
• Helen Kellerb. 1880USAmerican deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968)
• Mary Kenneth Kellerb. 1913USfirst American woman to receive a PhD in computer science (1913-1985); simultaneously with Irving Tang first American to receive PhD in computer science, nun
• Thomas Kellerb. 1924CHSwiss rower and rowing official (1924-1989)
• Evelyn Fox Kellerb. 1936USAmerican physicist, author and feminist
• Marthe Kellerb. 1945CHSwiss actress
• Ursula Kellerb. 1959CHSwiss laser physicist and university teacher (born 1959)
• Mary Page Kellerb. 1961USAmerican actress
• Karin Keller-Sutterb. 1963CHSwiss politician
• Kasey Kellerb. 1969USAmerican soccer player (born 1969)

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).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 326 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Keller?

We estimate roughly 131 thousand people bear Keller (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Keller have the most bearers?

We estimate about 98 thousand people bear Keller in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled keller.

Where is Keller most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Keller is densest in Switzerland — about 1 in 365 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Keller compared with other names?

In the United States, Keller is the 275th most common surname of 7,257,200 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Keller mean?

Recorded meaning: Instead of “Braunschweig or Bloch”, meaning “cellar”, in the area of Lörrach, Baden 1809.