2000
#9,352
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,198
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.19
Rare Last name
Camper
An occupational surname referring to a person who worked as a champion or professional fighter.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,648 Americans carry the last name Camper. That puts it at #9,738 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.06 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 93,957 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Camper surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
3.6K
1 in 93,957
Census rank
#9,738
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,181 bearers of the surname Camper in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.06 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9738th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Camper, the largest self-reported group is White at 55.8%. The next largest groups are Black (35.0%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Camper
Among Census respondents with the surname Camper, the largest self-reported group is White at 55.8%. The next largest groups are Black (35.0%) and Two or More Races (4.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Camper bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Camper surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.8% · 1,776
- Black or African American35.0% · 1,112
- Two or more races4.5% · 143
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 123
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Camper
Camper appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#9,357
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,476
+278 bearers (+8.7%)
Per 100,000 1.18
Rank movement Down 5 places
2020
#9,738
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,181
-295 bearers (-8.5%)
Per 100,000 1.06
Rank movement Down 381 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,352 | 3,198 | 1.19 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,357 | 3,476 | 1.18 | +278 bearers (+8.7%) | Down 5 places |
| 2020 | #9,738 | 3,181 | 1.06 | -295 bearers (-8.5%) | Down 381 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Camper surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #9,357 | #9,738 | -4.1% |
| Count | 3,476 | 3,181 | -8.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.18 | 1.06 | -9.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Camper bearers went from 3,476 to 3,181 (-8.5% change). The surname moved down 381 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,357 to #9,738.
FAQ
Camper surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Camper?
Name Census estimates that about 3,648 living Americans carry the surname Camper. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 93,957 residents.
How common is Camper?
Camper ranks #9,738 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.06 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,181 people with the surname Camper. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,648), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.06 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.06 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Camper.
Has Camper become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Camper went from 3,476 recorded bearers to 3,181. That is a decrease of 295 (-8.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,357 to #9,738.
What does the Census say about the background of Camper?
Among Census respondents with the surname Camper, the largest self-reported group is White at 55.8%. The next largest groups are Black (35.0%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Camper in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.8% (1,776 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Camper appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (55.8%), Black (35.0%), Two or More Races (4.5%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Camper (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Camper mean?
An occupational surname referring to a person who worked as a champion or professional fighter. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Camper (1.06 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Camper?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.