Kerckhoff
Kerckhoff or Kerckhoffs is a Dutch and Low German toponymic surname meaning "church yard". An ancestor may have lived near or worked in the church yard, or have come from a number of villages and hamlets named Kerkhove or Kerkhoven. Variant forms of the surname are Kerkhof, Kerkhoff, Kerkhove, and Van Kerkhof. Notable people with the surname include:
- Auguste Kerckhoffs, Dutch linguist and cryptographer
- *Kerckhoffs' principle, a cryptographic principle named for him
- Hermann Kerckhoff, Canadian slalom canoeist
- Joseph Kerckhoffs, Dutch physician
- Steven Kerckhoff, American mathematician
- Sylvia Kerckhoff, American politician from North Carolina
- William G. Kerckhoff, American businessman
- *Kerckhoff Dam, a reservoir dam in California named after him
- *Kerckhoff Marine Lab, southern California marine station owned and operated by Caltech named after him