2000
#9,429
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,163
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.17
Rare Last name
Crippen
Derived from a Middle English nickname for a person with curly hair, from the Old English word "crisp."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,327 Americans carry the last name Crippen. That puts it at #10,542 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.97 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 103,022 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Crippen 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Crippen with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.3K
1 in 103,022
Census rank
#10,542
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,901 bearers of the surname Crippen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.97 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10542nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Crippen, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Hispanic (4.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Crippen
The surname Crippen is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "crippen," which means "to creep or crawl." It is believed to have originally been an occupational name for someone who worked as a hunter or tracker, as these individuals would have had to creep or crawl through the woods to capture their prey.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Crippen can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror. In this historical document, the name appears in various spellings, such as "Crippin" and "Cripyn."
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Crippen, who was born in Oxfordshire, England, in the late 13th century. He was a landowner and is mentioned in several historical records from that time period.
During the 16th century, the name Crippen was particularly prevalent in the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and Somerset. One notable individual from this era was William Crippen, born in 1542 in Gloucestershire, who was a respected merchant and alderman in the city of Bristol.
In the 17th century, the Crippen family had established a presence in the American colonies. One of the earliest immigrants with this surname was Thomas Crippen, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 and later became a prominent landowner and farmer in the region.
Another famous bearer of the Crippen name was Hawley Harvey Crippen, born in 1862 in Coldwater, Michigan. He was a homeopathic doctor who gained notoriety for the sensational murder of his wife, Cora, in 1910. Crippen's case was one of the earliest instances of utilizing wireless communication to aid in the apprehension of a criminal suspect.
In the 20th century, one of the most notable individuals with the surname Crippen was Norman Crippen, born in 1892 in Buckinghamshire, England. He was a celebrated artist and illustrator, known for his work in the field of book illustration and his collaborations with prominent authors of the time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Crippen
Among Census respondents with the surname Crippen, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Hispanic (4.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Crippen 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 Crippen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.0% · 2,204
- Black or African American12.9% · 373
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 141
- Two or more races4.7% · 136
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Crippen
Crippen 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
#9,956
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,242
+79 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 1.10
Rank movement Down 527 places
2020
#10,542
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,901
-341 bearers (-10.5%)
Per 100,000 0.97
Rank movement Down 586 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,429 | 3,163 | 1.17 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,956 | 3,242 | 1.10 | +79 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 527 places |
| 2020 | #10,542 | 2,901 | 0.97 | -341 bearers (-10.5%) | Down 586 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 Crippen 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 | #9,956 | #10,542 | -5.9% |
| Count | 3,242 | 2,901 | -10.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.10 | 0.97 | -11.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Crippen bearers went from 3,242 to 2,901 (-10.5% change). The surname moved down 586 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,956 to #10,542.
FAQ
Crippen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Crippen?
Name Census estimates that about 3,327 living Americans carry the surname Crippen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 103,022 residents.
How common is Crippen?
Crippen ranks #10,542 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.97 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 2,901 people with the surname Crippen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,327), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.97 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.97 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 Crippen.
Has Crippen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Crippen went from 3,242 recorded bearers to 2,901. That is a decrease of 341 (-10.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,956 to #10,542.
What does the Census say about the background of Crippen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Crippen, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Crippen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.0% (2,204 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Crippen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (76.0%), Black (12.9%), Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Crippen (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 Crippen mean?
Derived from a Middle English nickname for a person with curly hair, from the Old English word "crisp." 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 Crippen (0.97 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 people have the last name Crippen?
If you just want to know how many people are called Crippen, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.