Couper
A French name meaning "to cut" or "cutter".
Name Census estimates that about 168 living Americans carry the first name Couper. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Couper today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Couper births was 2010 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Couper. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
168
~ 1 in 2,040,204 Americans
Peak year
2010
17 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2020 SSA rank
#7,119
Tracked since 2000
Census
Couper in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 202 people with the first name Couper, which placed it at #38,178 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#38,178
National first-name rank
People counted
202
202 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Couper
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Couper is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Couper described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Couper at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 179
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 9
- Two or more races4.0% · 8
- Black or African American2.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Couper: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Couper from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 86 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Couper by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Couper during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Couper
The given name Couper is believed to have originated from the Old French occupational surname "couper," which means "to cut" or "to trim." This name likely referred to someone who worked as a cutter or trimmer, possibly in the textile industry or as a tailor. The name's roots can be traced back to the Middle Ages, around the 11th to 15th centuries, when many surnames were derived from occupations.
While the name Couper does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that individuals with this name may have been mentioned in medieval records or documents related to trade guilds or guilds of craftsmen. However, specific examples are difficult to pinpoint due to the name's occupational nature and the lack of comprehensive records from that time period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Couper being used as a first name can be found in the 16th century. A French writer and scholar named Couper de la Blanchiére lived during this time, although his exact birth and death dates are unknown. Another notable individual with the name Couper was an English playwright and actor named Samuel Couper, who lived from 1638 to 1687.
In the 18th century, there was a Scottish minister and author named Robert Couper (1750-1818), who wrote several books on religious subjects. Later, in the 19th century, Couper Gardiner (1809-1886) was a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy and participated in various expeditions and voyages.
Another noteworthy figure with the name Couper was John Couper, a Scottish-American botanist and nurseryman who lived from 1807 to 1867. He made significant contributions to the study of plants and the establishment of nurseries in the United States.
While these examples provide a glimpse into the historical use of the name Couper, it is important to note that the name's occupational origins and the lack of comprehensive records from earlier periods make it challenging to trace its full history accurately.
People
Couper + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Couper as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Couper: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Couper?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 168 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Couper going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,040,204 US residents.
Is Couper a common name?
We classify Couper as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 170 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Couper most popular?
The single biggest year for Couper was 2010, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Couper is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Couper in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 202 people with the name Couper, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,178 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Couper in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Couper?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Couper leans strongly male. 189 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 13 female bearers (6.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Couper?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Couper is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Couper most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Couper in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (179 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Couper in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Couper a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Couper in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Couper still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Couper in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Couper can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Couper?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.