2000
#121,058
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 132
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Kopps
A variant of the German surname "Kopf" meaning head or chief.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 124 Americans carry the last name Kopps. That puts it at #150,935 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,764,148 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kopps 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
124
1 in 2,764,148
Census rank
#150,935
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
108
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 108 bearers of the surname Kopps in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150935th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopps, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kopps
The surname Kopps traces its origins to Germany, where it first emerged in the 14th century as a derivative of the German word "Kopf," meaning "head." This name was initially an occupational surname given to individuals who worked as makers or sellers of headgear, such as hats or helmets.
During the Middle Ages, surnames based on occupations were widespread in Germanic regions, as they provided a means of identifying individuals and their trade within communities. The name Kopps would have been particularly prevalent in areas with a thriving hat-making industry or in towns where merchants specialized in the sale of headwear.
One of the earliest known references to the name Kopps can be found in the records of the city of Nuremberg, where a certain Johannes Kopps is mentioned as a resident in the year 1402. This entry suggests that the surname was already well-established in the region at that time.
In the 16th century, the name Kopps appears in various records from the German states, indicating its widespread use. Notable bearers of the name include Hans Kopps, a renowned hat maker from Augsburg who lived from 1520 to 1589, and Matthias Kopps, a respected scholar and theologian from Leipzig (1547-1611).
As the centuries progressed, the Kopps surname spread beyond Germany, carried by emigrants and settlers to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One notable figure was Johann Kopps, a German-born farmer who settled in Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century and became a prominent landowner in the region.
Another significant bearer of the Kopps name was Wilhelm Kopps (1802-1879), a German mathematician and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of logic and set theory. His work laid the foundations for modern symbolic logic and influenced subsequent generations of mathematicians and logicians.
In the 19th century, the Kopps surname also gained recognition in the field of music. Carl Kopps (1832-1902) was a renowned German composer and conductor who worked in various opera houses across Europe, including the prestigious Royal Opera House in Berlin.
While the surname Kopps has its roots in Germany, it has since been dispersed around the world, carried by generations of emigrants and travelers. However, its origins remain firmly rooted in the occupational history of hat-making and the linguistic heritage of the German language.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kopps
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopps, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Kopps 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 Kopps surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.1% · 107
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kopps
Kopps 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
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-24 bearers (-18.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 30,474 places
2020
#150,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 597 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,058 | 132 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | -24 bearers (-18.2%) | Down 30,474 places |
| 2020 | #150,935 | 108 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Up 597 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 Kopps 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 | #151,532 | #150,935 | 0.4% |
| Count | 108 | 108 | 0.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kopps bearers went from 108 to 108 (+0.0% change). The surname moved up 597 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #150,935.
FAQ
Kopps surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kopps?
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the surname Kopps. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,764,148 residents.
How common is Kopps?
Kopps ranks #150,935 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 108 people with the surname Kopps. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (124), 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 Kopps.
Has Kopps become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kopps went from 108 recorded bearers to 108. That is an increase of 0 (+0.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #151,532 to #150,935.
What does the Census say about the background of Kopps?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopps, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%). 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 Kopps in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.1% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kopps appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (99.1%), Black (0.9%). 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 Kopps (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 Kopps mean?
A variant of the German surname "Kopf" meaning head or chief. 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 Kopps (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 Kopps?
See how common the surname Kopps is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.