Klemperer is a German-language occupational surname literally meaning "tinker". It is suggested that in the case of the conductor's immediate family the original name was Klopper - one who knocks on doors to get people to go to Synagogue - and was later changed to the better sounding Klemperer which rhymes with Emperor.
The surname may refer to:
Members of the prominent German family: Otto Klemperer (1885–1973), Jewish German-born conductor and composer Johanna Klemperer, his wife, known professionally as Johanna Geisler Werner Klemperer (1920–2000), German-American actor, their son, best known for playing Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes, and musician Georg Klemperer (1865–1946), Jewish German medical consultant, brother of Victor and cousin to the conductor Otto Klemperer, advised his cousin in America concerning his brain tumour. Victor Klemperer (1881–1960), Jewish German businessman, journalist, author and literary critic (Professor of Literature) Otto Klemperer (physicist) (1899–1987), German physicist and cousin to the conductor Otto Klemperer David Klemperer (born 1980), German beach volleyball player Felix Klemperer (1866–1932), German internist Gustav Klemperer von Klemenau (1852–1926), German banker James von Klemperer (born 1957), American architect Klemens von Klemperer (1916–2012), German-American historian Paul Klemperer (born 1956), English economist and Edgeworth Professor of Economics at Oxford University Ralph von Klemperer, German banker Simon Klemperer, Geophysicist and Stanford University professor, brother of Paul Klemperer Viktor Klemperer von Klemenau (1876–1943), German banker Wilhelm Klemperer (1839–1912), Rabbi William Klemperer (1927–2017), American chemist and Harvard University professor Wolfgang Klemperer (1893–1965), German-American physicist and aerospace engineer