2000
#5,914
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,359
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.99
Rare Last name
Karp
A surname of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "karpfe," meaning "carp" (the fish).
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,966 Americans carry the last name Karp. That puts it at #6,293 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.74 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 57,451 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Karp 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 Karp with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.0K
1 in 57,451
Census rank
#6,293
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,203 bearers of the surname Karp in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.74 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6293rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Karp, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Karp
The surname KARP is of Polish origin, derived from the Slavic word "karp," which means "carp," a type of freshwater fish. This name likely originated as a descriptive surname in the Middle Ages, referring to someone who caught or sold carp.
The earliest recorded instances of the KARP surname can be traced back to the 15th century in Poland. It was common in the regions of Silesia and Greater Poland, particularly in the cities of Wroclaw, Poznan, and Krakow.
In the 16th century, the name KARP appears in several historical records, including the Metryka Koronna, a collection of documents from the Polish Crown Chancellery. One notable individual from this time was Jan Karp, a prominent merchant and landowner who lived in Krakow in the late 1500s.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the KARP surname spread across Central and Eastern Europe, as Polish immigrants settled in neighboring regions. In Russia, the name was sometimes spelled as "Karpov," and in Germany, it took the form "Karpf."
One of the earliest known bearers of the KARP surname in Germany was Johann Karpf, a Lutheran pastor who lived in Nuremberg in the late 17th century (1645-1711). In the 18th century, Ignacy Karp (1715-1784) was a Polish philosopher and mathematician known for his contributions to the field of logic.
As the KARP surname spread across Europe, it also found its way to other parts of the world through immigration. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Stanislaw Karp, a Polish immigrant who settled in Chicago in the late 19th century (1850-1921).
Another notable figure was Yosef Karp (1892-1962), a Russian-born Israeli chess player and composer who was one of the leading players in the early years of the Israeli chess scene. More recently, Richard Karp (born 1935) is an American computer scientist and mathematician, known for his contributions to the field of computational complexity theory.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Karp
Among Census respondents with the surname Karp, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Karp 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 Karp surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.5% · 4,815
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 172
- Two or more races2.7% · 140
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 48
- Black or African American0.4% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Karp
Karp 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
#6,143
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,577
+218 bearers (+4.1%)
Per 100,000 1.89
Rank movement Down 229 places
2020
#6,293
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,203
-374 bearers (-6.7%)
Per 100,000 1.74
Rank movement Down 150 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,914 | 5,359 | 1.99 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,143 | 5,577 | 1.89 | +218 bearers (+4.1%) | Down 229 places |
| 2020 | #6,293 | 5,203 | 1.74 | -374 bearers (-6.7%) | Down 150 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 Karp 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 | #6,143 | #6,293 | -2.4% |
| Count | 5,577 | 5,203 | -6.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.89 | 1.74 | -7.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Karp bearers went from 5,577 to 5,203 (-6.7% change). The surname moved down 150 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,143 to #6,293.
FAQ
Karp surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Karp?
Name Census estimates that about 5,966 living Americans carry the surname Karp. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 57,451 residents.
How common is Karp?
Karp ranks #6,293 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.74 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,203 people with the surname Karp. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,966), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.74 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.74 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Karp.
Has Karp become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Karp went from 5,577 recorded bearers to 5,203. That is a decrease of 374 (-6.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,143 to #6,293.
What does the Census say about the background of Karp?
Among Census respondents with the surname Karp, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Karp in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (4,815 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Karp appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.5%), Hispanic (3.3%), Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Karp (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 Karp mean?
A surname of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "karpfe," meaning "carp" (the fish). 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 Karp (1.74 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 surname Karp?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.