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

Camper, 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 Camper surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Camper in America

Camper is the 9357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Camper surname appeared 3,476 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 Camper.

We can also compare 2010 data for Camper 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 Camper

The surname Camper originated in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy during the late medieval period. It is thought to be derived from the Italian word "campiere," which referred to someone who lived or worked in the countryside or fields. The earliest recorded instances of the name appear in local municipal records and tax rolls from the 13th and 14th centuries.

One of the first documented examples of the Camper surname is found in a 1322 census record from the town of Bergamo, which lists a certain Petrus Camper as a landowner. By the 15th century, variations of the name such as Camperi, Campieri, and Campiero had also emerged in various parts of Lombardy and the neighboring regions of Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.

The Camper name is believed to have spread to other parts of Europe through the migration of skilled artisans and tradesmen from northern Italy during the Renaissance period. In the 16th century, a family of Campers settled in the city of Antwerp in what is now modern-day Belgium, where they established themselves as successful merchants and bankers.

One notable figure from this Antwerp branch of the Camper family was Pieter Camper, a renowned Dutch anatomist, surgeon, and naturalist who lived from 1722 to 1789. He made significant contributions to the study of human and animal anatomy, as well as to the fields of paleontology and comparative anatomy.

Another historically significant individual with the Camper surname was the Italian architect and sculptor Pietro Camper, who was active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He is best known for his work on the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, one of the city's most iconic landmarks.

In the 19th century, the name Camper gained prominence in the United States through the life and work of Matthias Camper, a German-born farmer and pioneer who settled in the state of Ohio in the 1830s. He is credited with establishing one of the first successful vineyards in the region, which helped lay the foundation for the thriving wine industry that exists there today.

Other notable individuals with the Camper surname include the British artist and illustrator Benjamin Camper (1828-1888), whose works were widely published in popular magazines and periodicals of the Victorian era, and the American baseball player Bill Camper (1914-1990), who played for the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox during his career in the 1940s and 1950s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Camper

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

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 Camper 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 Camper 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 Camper was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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