Klein

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.

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Klein is one spelling over 3 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English62%

  From a medieval nickname for a small man, from German/Dutch klein and Yiddish kleyn ‘small’.

  as a name·Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]

• German15%

  German surname from a personal characteristic: 'small/short'; nickname for a small-statured person.

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

  from klein 'small'; also used in compounds and as a descriptive byname

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

  from klein ‘small, young’; also from short forms of given names

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

  Personal characteristic: 'small/short'; bearer count 63785.

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

  distinguishing byname from Klein- 'younger, smaller'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• French6.1%

  No dictionary in our sources glosses Klein in French.

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Klein, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Calvin
• Cal
• Roth
• Callahan
• Alvin
• Jones
• Callan
• German
• Clark
• Miller
• Callum
• Vaughn

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Klein is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese surname5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom

  Also written Klëin, Kleĭn, ̶k̶l̶e̶i̶n̶

• Spanish surname2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Chile, Colombia

  Also written K'Lein

• Russian surname59 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, United States

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish

  Also written Клейн, Кляйн, Кляин, Клеин, Клайн

• a separate name4 spellings in the group

  Also written Ḳlein, Kleĭn

• Hebrew surname18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Israel, United States, Romania, Hungary

  Languages: Hebrew, Amharic

  Also written קליין, קלין, Kline, Klain, Cline

86 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.

• Felix Kleinb. 1849DEGerman mathematician, author of the Erlangen Program (1849-1925)
• Melanie Kleinb. 1882GBBritish Austrian born psychoanalyst (1882–1960)
• Lawrence Kleinb. 1920USAmerican economist (1920-2013)
• Yves Kleinb. 1928FR20th century French visual artist (1928–1962)
• Calvin Kleinb. 1942USAmerican fashion designer (born 1942)
• Carole Kingb. 1942USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer-songwriter and musician (born 1942)
• Naomi Kleinb. 1970CACanadian author and activist (born 1970)
• Chris Kleinb. 1979USAmerican actor
• Ezra Kleinb. 1984USAmerican journalist (born 1984)
• Joost Kleinb. 1997NLDutch musician and videographer (born 1997)

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).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Klein mean, and where does it come from?

From a medieval nickname for a small man, from German/Dutch klein and Yiddish kleyn ‘small’. Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

How do you pronounce Klein?

A machine transcription gives /klaɪn/ (IPA) for English.

In which country does Klein have the most bearers?

Mondonomo estimates about 123 thousand people named Klein in Germany, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled klein.

How common is the name Klein?

In the United States, the national register counted 81,471 people named Klein in 2010, about 1 in 4.1 thousand residents.

How common is Klein compared with other names?

In Germany, Klein is the 16th most common surname of 765,306 surnames recorded there.