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

Kreps, 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 Kreps surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kreps in America

Kreps is the 15409th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kreps surname appeared 1,901 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kreps.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kreps 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.

The history of the last name Kreps

The surname Kreps is of German origin, with its roots dating back to the 16th century. The name is believed to have derived from the German word "Krebs," which means "crab" or "cancer" in English. This connection suggests that the name may have initially been a descriptive nickname, perhaps referring to someone with a crab-like appearance or behavior.

The earliest known record of the name Kreps can be found in the German state of Bavaria, where it was documented in the town of Nuremberg in the late 1500s. It is believed that the name spread from this region to other parts of Germany and eventually to other parts of Europe and beyond.

One notable historical figure with the surname Kreps was Johann Baptist Kreps, a German painter and engraver who lived from 1599 to 1663. His works, which included religious paintings and engravings, can still be found in various museums and collections throughout Europe.

In the 18th century, the Kreps name appeared in several records from the Palatinate region of Germany, which was a major source of emigration to the American colonies. It is likely that some Kreps families made their way to the New World during this time, contributing to the spread of the name across the Atlantic.

Another prominent individual with the surname Kreps was Theodore J. Kreps, an American economist and academic who served as the United States Secretary of Commerce under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1979. He was born in 1919 and passed away in 1992.

Moving into the 19th century, the name Kreps can be found in various historical records from countries such as France and the Netherlands, indicating the spread of the name across Europe. One notable example is Willem Kreps, a Dutch painter who lived from 1808 to 1876 and was known for his landscape and genre paintings.

As the 20th century dawned, the Kreps surname continued to be represented across different fields and professions. One such individual was Michael Kreps, an American mathematician and academic who made significant contributions to the fields of probability theory and game theory. He was born in 1926 and passed away in 1988.

Throughout history, the surname Kreps has been associated with various place names and spellings, such as Krebbs, Krebs, and Krepps. While the name may have evolved over time, its German roots and connection to the word "Krebs" have remained a consistent thread throughout its history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kreps

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

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 Kreps was:

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

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

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

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