Kaiser (surname)

Kaiser is a surname derived from the German imperial title Kaiser (English: emperor). The title Kaiser is in turn derived from the Latin title Caesar, which again is a derivation from the personal name of a branch of the gens (clan) Julia, to which belonged Gaius Julius Caesar, the forebear of the first Roman imperial family. The further etymology is unclear.

The name is not especially frequent (ca. 0.05% in Germany), but it is still ranked 41st in Germany as of 2000).^[1] Regions in Germany where it is more frequent are central Germany and the southern half of the Black Forest area, and to a lesser extent Southern Germany.^[2] It is also used in Austria and the Czech Republic.

Other names with the same origin are Kayser and Keiser; Keyser is more common as a Dutch spelling, and Qaisar is an Arabic version.

Notable people with the surname Kaiser

• A. Dale Kaiser (born 1927), American molecular biologist
• Frederik Kaiser (1808–1872), Dutch astronomer
• Georg Kaiser (1878–1945), German expressionist playwright
• George Kaiser (1943), American businessman
• Glenn Kaiser, Chicago-based blues musician
• Henry J. Kaiser (1882–1967), American industrialist
• John Anthony Kaiser (1932–2000), Roman Catholic priest
• Joseph Kaiser, Canadian opera singer
• Kajetan Georg von Kaiser, German chemist
• Ken Kaiser, former Major League Baseball umpire
• Oldřich Kaiser, Czech comedy actor
• Philip Mayer Kaiser, United States diplomat
• Reinhard Keiser (1674–1739), German composer
• Robert Blair Kaiser, writer, journalist
• Robert G. Kaiser, associate editor and senior correspondent of The Washington Post
• Roland Kaiser, German musician
• Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser (born 1943), German record producer
• Rudolf Kaiser, German sailplane designer
• Stien Kaiser, Dutch speed skater
• Tim Kaiser, television producer
• Walter Kaiser, Jr., biblical scholar

References