2000
#121,780
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 131
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Kempers
A German surname derived from a place, possibly referring to someone from Kempen or Campine.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 138 Americans carry the last name Kempers. That puts it at #142,049 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,483,727 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kempers 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
138
1 in 2,483,727
Census rank
#142,049
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
120
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 120 bearers of the surname Kempers in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142049th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kempers, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kempers
The surname KEMPERS is of Dutch origin, tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages in the Low Countries. It is derived from the occupational surname "Kemper," meaning "comber" or "carder," referring to someone who carded or combed wool or flax fibers in preparation for spinning.
The name originated in the textile-producing regions of the Netherlands and Belgium, where the wool and linen industries were prominent. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in municipal records and guild registers from cities like Leiden and Ghent, dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jan Kempers, a wool comber from Leiden, mentioned in a guild register from 1432. Another notable early figure was Pieter Kempers, a successful linen merchant from Ghent, who is recorded in tax records from 1487.
The surname KEMPERS has also been associated with various place names in the Netherlands and Belgium, such as Kempen, a region in the southeastern Netherlands, and Kempisch, a dialect spoken in that area. Some spelling variations of the name include Kemper, Kempener, and Kempenaer.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the KEMPERS surname. One such figure was Willem Kempers (1619-1688), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his landscapes and genre scenes. Another was Johannes Kempers (1786-1859), a Dutch politician and jurist who served as the Minister of Justice in the Netherlands.
In the 19th century, Jan Kempers (1832-1899) was a prominent Dutch architect and urban planner who designed numerous buildings and urban developments in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities. More recently, Bram Kempers (1886-1957) was a renowned Dutch art historian and museum curator, who served as the director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam from 1945 to 1957.
The KEMPERS surname has also been carried by individuals outside of the Netherlands and Belgium, as Dutch emigrants and their descendants spread across the globe. For example, Leendert Kempers (1776-1856) was a Dutch colonist who settled in South Africa in the early 19th century, and his descendants have continued to bear the surname in that region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kempers
Among Census respondents with the surname Kempers, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Kempers 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 Kempers surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.2% · 113
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 5
- Two or more races1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kempers
Kempers 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
#133,048
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 127
-4 bearers (-3.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,268 places
2020
#142,049
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
-7 bearers (-5.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,001 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,780 | 131 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #133,048 | 127 | 0.04 | -4 bearers (-3.1%) | Down 11,268 places |
| 2020 | #142,049 | 120 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.5%) | Down 9,001 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 Kempers 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 | #133,048 | #142,049 | -6.8% |
| Count | 127 | 120 | -5.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kempers bearers went from 127 to 120 (-5.5% change). The surname moved down 9,001 positions in the national ranking, going from #133,048 to #142,049.
FAQ
Kempers surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kempers?
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the surname Kempers. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,483,727 residents.
How common is Kempers?
Kempers ranks #142,049 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 120 people with the surname Kempers. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (138), 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 Kempers.
Has Kempers become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kempers went from 127 recorded bearers to 120. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #133,048 to #142,049.
What does the Census say about the background of Kempers?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kempers, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Kempers in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (113 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kempers appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.2%), Hispanic (4.2%), Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Kempers (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 Kempers mean?
A German surname derived from a place, possibly referring to someone from Kempen or Campine. 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 Kempers (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 many people have the last name Kempers?
For a quick modern take, check how many people are called Kempers on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.