2000
#146,011
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Droppers
An occupational surname referring to someone involved in the making or selling of droppers or small containers.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Droppers. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Droppers 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
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Droppers in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Droppers, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Droppers
The surname Droppers is believed to have originated in the Netherlands during the late 16th century. It is derived from the Dutch word "dropper," which means a person who drops or lets fall. This could refer to an occupation such as someone who operated a drawbridge or someone who worked with liquids or liquids containers.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Droppers surname can be found in the Dutch village of Ameide, located in the province of South Holland. A record from 1612 mentions a Jan Droppers, who was a local farmer and landowner.
In the 17th century, the Droppers name began to appear in various official documents and records across the Netherlands. For example, a Pieter Droppers is listed as a merchant in the city of Amsterdam in a trade registry from 1637.
As the Dutch expanded their global reach through trade and colonization, the Droppers surname spread to other parts of the world. In the late 1600s, a Cornelis Droppers settled in the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America, where he worked as a plantation overseer.
In the 18th century, the Droppers surname made its way to North America, likely through Dutch immigrants to the New Netherlands colony (later part of New York). One notable early American bearer of the name was Johannes Droppers, who was born in 1721 in the town of Flatbush, Long Island.
Other notable individuals with the Droppers surname throughout history include:
1. Gerard Droppers (1684-1756), a Dutch painter known for his landscape and still life works.
2. Willem Droppers (1793-1869), a Dutch politician and lawyer who served as a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.
3. Hendrika Droppers (1807-1884), a Dutch women's rights activist and author who campaigned for educational reform and women's suffrage.
4. Jacobus Droppers (1826-1903), a Dutch-American farmer and businessman who founded the town of Droppers, Wisconsin.
5. Maria Droppers (1901-1987), a Belgian artist and sculptor known for her modernist works in bronze and stone.
While the Droppers surname is not among the most common surnames globally, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and can be traced back to its origins in the Netherlands.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Droppers
Among Census respondents with the surname Droppers, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Droppers 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 Droppers surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.2% · 109
- Two or more races1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Droppers
Droppers 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
#156,044
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 10,033 places
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
+7 bearers (+6.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 7,379 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #146,011 | 104 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #156,044 | 104 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 10,033 places |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | +7 bearers (+6.7%) | Up 7,379 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 Droppers 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 | #156,044 | #148,665 | 4.7% |
| Count | 104 | 111 | 6.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Droppers bearers went from 104 to 111 (+6.7% change). The surname moved up 7,379 positions in the national ranking, going from #156,044 to #148,665.
FAQ
Droppers surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Droppers?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Droppers. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Droppers?
Droppers ranks #148,665 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 111 people with the surname Droppers. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Droppers.
Has Droppers become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Droppers went from 104 recorded bearers to 111. That is an increase of 7 (+6.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #156,044 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Droppers?
Among Census respondents with the surname Droppers, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Droppers in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.2% (109 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Droppers appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.2%), Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Droppers (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 Droppers mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone involved in the making or selling of droppers or small containers. 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 Droppers (0.04 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 common is the surname Droppers?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Droppers at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.