The Kumar surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 25,986 people carried this name — #1,357 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 11,400 people counted. That is up 79% from 14,517 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Kumar surname
From the Sanskrit for “young man; prince”.
From Sanskrit कुमार (kumāra, “young man; prince”), by way of other languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu Kumār.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (fr.wiktionary.org, the French edition) — entry «Kumar», by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · translated from French and condensed.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
603 people named Kumar live in Switzerland.
They live in 19 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 368 people named Kumar live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
194 people named Kumar have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 1,407 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 15 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 94 people named Kumar live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 42 people named Kumar.
Most of them — 39 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 2 départements, most often Seine-Saint-Denis.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In national population registers
1,899 people named Kumar are counted in Sweden, Norway, Slovenia and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad. Slovenia counts its residents on 1 January 2026. It is the 821st most common surname there.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0 · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0 · source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS), SiStat tables 05X1015S–05X1018S, family names of the population, 1 January 2026 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In Scotland’s registers today
Kumar was recorded 21 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.
That made it the 1107th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.
National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
In print
Kumar in American newspapers,
1891–1916.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 31 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Kumar in Australian newspapers,
1880s–2010s.
281 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kumar. The most, 51, date from the 1950s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.4 times its expected share.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Kumar.
Who carried it
People named Kumar,
with a public archive behind them.
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K. Kumar 1893–1973 · human rights defender -
Danila Kumar 1921–1944 · partisan -
Dilip Kumar 1922–2021 · actor -
Rajendra Kumar 1929–1999 · film director -
Arvind Kumar 1930–2021 · journalist
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — K. Kumar: PhotoReq, CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0); Rajendra Kumar: Sakanwar, CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0); the others are in the public domain or CC0 · 209 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Kumar,
in the records of 4 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States21 records
- U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 10
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 6
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 3
- New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2
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Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Eugene G. KumarBorn 1925 in Massachusetts. Enlisted 1943 at New York City, from Kings County, New York. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1989, buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. burial record, 1864 Burial record Gail H. KumarU.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War. Born 1949, died 1982; buried at Calverton National Cemetery, New York.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s Alien registration Zofja KumarBorn 1893 in Poland. Registered as a foreign national in Cleveland, Ohio, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940.
U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)
Showing 3 of 21 records for Kumar in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
Australia12 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 8
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 3
- NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
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Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Kuldip KumarFactory worker of Carrum Downs, Victoria; died 2000.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Franr KumarArrived in Victoria in 1899 aboard the Oldenburg, aged 36.
Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record Francis KumarOf Petersham, New South Wales; died 1920.
Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
Showing 3 of 12 records for Kumar in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).
France3 records
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Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Sophie Louise Marie KumarBorn 1907 in Egypt; died 1995 in Saint-Geoire-en-Valdaine (Isère).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Lachhman KumarBorn 1954 in India; died 1994 in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Francois KumarBorn 1922 in Quisca (Serbie-et-Monténégro); died 1997 in Monthoiron (Vienne).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
Canada1 record
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Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Dorothy Dayawanti KumarDied 1980; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.
City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
Counts: City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Kumar.
- Kulczak 122 · U.S. census
- Kulig 1,118 · U.S. census
- Kulik 2,137 · U.S. census
- Kull 2,701 · U.S. census
- Kullmann 289 · U.S. census
- Kulp 4,681 · U.S. census
- Kummer 3,354 · U.S. census
- Kumpf 889 · U.S. census
- Kung 3,113 · U.S. census
- Kunkel 9,488 · U.S. census
- Kunkle 4,682 · U.S. census
- Kunkler 707 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Kumar is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.