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.

[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.

Variation spellings rooted in the Kaiser surname are Kayser, Kaijser, Keiser, Kiser, and Kyser.

Dutch cognates of the surname include Keizer, (De) Keijzer, (De) Keyser, and Dekeyser.