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