Kaup last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Kaup

A Germanic surname derived from a topographic name for someone living near a small hill or summit.

Kaup, 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 Kaup surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kaup in America

Kaup is the 20458th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kaup surname appeared 1,298 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kaup.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kaup 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 20458 19090 6.92%
Count 1,298 1,318 -1.53%
Proportion per 100k 0.44 0.49 -10.75%

The history of the last name Kaup

The surname Kaup has its origins in Germany, with earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Low German word "kaupen," which means "to buy or trade." This suggests that the name may have been associated with traders, merchants, or businessmen in its early history.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kaup can be found in the town records of Lübeck, a prominent trading city in northern Germany, from the year 1541. The entry refers to a certain "Hans Kaup," who was a merchant dealing in textiles and spices from the Baltic region.

In the 17th century, the name appears in several church records and land registries across various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and Westphalia. This indicates that the Kaup family had spread and established itself in different parts of the country during this period.

A notable figure bearing the Kaup surname was Johann Jakob Kaup, a German naturalist and zoologist born in 1803 in Darmstadt. He made significant contributions to the study of fossil animals and published several works on paleontology, including the classification of various extinct species of birds and mammals.

Another individual of historical significance was Friedrich Kaup, a German architect and urban planner who lived from 1866 to 1944. He was responsible for the design and development of several notable buildings and urban projects in cities like Frankfurt and Wiesbaden during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the 19th century, the name Kaup also appears in records from the United States, suggesting that some members of the family had emigrated to America during this time. One such individual was Johann Kaup, who was born in 1825 in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and later settled in Ohio, where he worked as a farmer.

Throughout the centuries, the surname Kaup has also been associated with various places and locations, particularly in Germany. For instance, there is a village named Kaupen in the state of Hesse, which may have derived its name from the same linguistic root as the surname.

While the surname Kaup is not among the most common in Germany or other parts of the world, it has left a trail of historical records and notable individuals who have contributed to various fields, including science, architecture, and commerce, over the course of several centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kaup

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

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 Kaup was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 94.68% 1,229
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 2.08% 27
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.39% 5
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.92% 12
Hispanic Origin 1.93% 25

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 Kaup has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 94.68% 95.37% -0.73%
Black 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.08% 2.50% -18.34%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.39% 0.38% 2.60%
Two or More Races 0.92% 0.99% -7.33%
Hispanic 1.93% 0.76% 86.99%

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

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Kaup last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/kaup-surname-popularity/.

"Kaup last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/kaup-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Kaup last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/kaup-surname-popularity/.

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