Show ContentsKelemen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Kelemen

What does the name Kelemen mean?

The history of the Kelemen family begins in the Boernician tribes of ancient Scotland. The Kelemen family lived in Aberdeen (part of the modern Grampian region.)

They may have been descended from Bishop and Saint Cellach (6th century) of Killala in the county of Mayo, the eldest son of Eogan Bél, fourth Christian king of Connaught. 1 Another source presumes the name originated with "Chelioc, or Kulliag (Cornish British), a cock, coileach, in Gaelic, and ceiliog, in Welsh, the C having the sound of K. " 2

Early Origins of the Kelemen family

The surname Kelemen was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), a historic county, and present day Council Area of Aberdeen, located in the Grampian region of northeastern Scotland. More recently, leading seamen in the Commonwealth Navies addressed as "leader", and informally known as "kellicks" from the killick anchor which is the symbol of their rank.

Early History of the Kelemen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kelemen research. Another 80 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1372 is included under the topic Early Kelemen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kelemen Spelling Variations

Before the first dictionaries and printing presses went into use in the last few hundred years, spelling, particularly of names, was a largely intuitive matter. Consequently, many spelling variations occur in even the simplest names from the Middle Ages. Kelemen has been spelled Kellogg, Kellock, Kelloch, Kellog, Kellogh, MacKelloch, MacKellock and many more.

Early Notables of the Kelemen family

More information is included under the topic Early Kelemen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kelemen Ranking

the United States, the name Kelemen is the 15,164th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Kelemen family to Ireland

Some of the Kelemen family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Kelemen family

The east coasts of the United States and Canada are still populated by many of the descendents of the Boernician-Scottish families who made that great crossing. They distributed themselves evenly when they first arrived, but at the time of the War of Independence those who remained loyal to England went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. This century, many of their ancestors have recovered their past heritage through highland games and other Scottish functions in North America. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that many immigrants bearing the name Kelemen or a variant listed above: James Kellock, who was a servant, who arrived in Virginia in 1661; Alice Kellogg, who came to Hartford, CT in 1637; Daniel Kellogg, who arrived in Connecticut in 1651.


Contemporary Notables of the name Kelemen (post 1700) +

  • Judith Kelemen, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 1972 4
  • Attila Béla Ladislau Kelemen (1948-2022), Romanian politician and Member of the European Parliament, member of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania
  • Milko Kelemen (1924-2018), Croatian composer


  1. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  2. Charnock, Richard, Stephen, Ludus Patronymicus of The Etymology of Curious Surnames. London: Trubner & Co., 60 Paternoster Row, 1868. Print.
  3. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  4. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 27) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook