Kaiser Family History

German and Dutch: from Middle High German keiser ‘emperor’ from the Latin imperial title Caesar. This was the title borne by Holy Roman Emperors from Otto I (962) to Francis II (who relinquished the title in 1806). Later it was borne by the monarch of Bismarck's united Germany (1871–1918).

It is very common as a German surname originating partly as an occupational name for a servant in the Emperor's household, partly as a nickname for someone who behaved in an imperious manner, and partly as a topographic or habitational name referring to a house or inn distinguished by the sign of an emperor.

This surname is also found in many other European countries, for example in France (Alsace and Lorraine), Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Czechia, and Slovenia.

Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German Kaiser ‘emperor’ adopted (like Graf, Herzog, etc.) because of its aristocratic connotations.

Germanized form of Polish, Slovenian, and Croatian Kajzer, Czech and Slovenian Kajzar, or Czech Kajzr: nickname of German origin (see 1 above), often applied as a translation into German of corresponding Slavic nicknames and surnames.