Find out how popular the last name Arp is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Arp.

Arp, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Arp surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arp in America

Arp is the 9560th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arp surname appeared 3,401 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Arp.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arp to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Arp

The surname Arp has its origins in the Low German and Dutch languages, and is believed to have first emerged in the regions of present-day northern Germany and the Netherlands during the medieval period.

Linguists suggest that the name derives from the Old Saxon and Old Frisian word "arp," meaning "harvest" or "crop." This connection implies that the surname may have initially been associated with individuals involved in agricultural pursuits or landowners who oversaw the harvesting of crops.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical documents from the city-state of Bremen, Germany, dating back to the 13th century. In these records, the name appears as "Arpe" and "Arpp," suggesting variations in spelling during that time.

The Arp surname has also been found in several historical documents from the Netherlands, including the Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland, a compilation of charters and records from the provinces of Holland and Zeeland, dating back to the 14th century.

Notable individuals with the surname Arp include:

1. Matthias Arp (1598-1663), a German Lutheran theologian and philosopher who served as the rector of the University of Rostock.

2. Jean Arp (1886-1966), a renowned French sculptor, painter, and poet, considered one of the founders of the Dada movement.

3. Halton Arp (1927-2013), an American astronomer known for his work on peculiar galaxies and his controversial theories challenging the Big Bang theory.

4. Hans Arp (1887-1966), a German-French poet, sculptor, and painter, closely associated with the Dada and Surrealist movements.

5. Johan Christian Arp (1793-1869), a Norwegian politician and landowner who served as a member of the Norwegian Parliament.

The surname has also been associated with various place names, such as the village of Arp in the Netherlands and the town of Arp in Texas, United States, which was named after a settler with the Arp surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arp

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Arp.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Arp was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Arp has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Arp was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Arp, please contact us.

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