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

Kupa, 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 Kupa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kupa in America

Kupa is the 123064th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kupa surname appeared 140 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 Kupa.

The history of the last name Kupa

The surname KUPA is believed to have originated in the Slavic regions of Eastern Europe, specifically in present-day Poland and Ukraine. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period, around the 10th to 12th centuries.

One theory suggests that KUPA derives from the Old Slavic word "kup," meaning "heap" or "pile." This could indicate that the name was initially given to someone who lived near a distinctive mound or hill. Alternatively, it may have been an occupational surname for someone involved in trading or commerce, as "kup" also held the meaning of "trading company" or "merchant guild."

Another possible origin of KUPA is the Old Slavic name "Kupan," which was a diminutive form of the name "Kup." This personal name was relatively common in the region during the Middle Ages, and it is plausible that KUPA emerged as a patronymic surname, denoting "son of Kupan."

The earliest recorded instances of the surname KUPA can be found in medieval Polish and Ruthenian (Ukrainian) documents, such as land records and census rolls from the 14th and 15th centuries. For example, a Janko Kupa is mentioned in a 1387 document from the town of Sanok, Poland.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the surname KUPA was Jan Kupa, a Polish nobleman and military commander who fought in the Polish-Muscovite War of 1609-1618. He is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time.

Another individual of note was Stanisław Kupa (1595-1668), a Polish Catholic priest and theologian who served as a professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and authored several religious texts.

In the 18th century, a prominent bearer of the KUPA surname was Michał Kupa (1723-1793), a Polish painter and artist known for his religious works and portraiture. Many of his paintings can still be found in churches and museums across Poland.

In the 19th century, Franciszek Kupa (1844-1912) was a Polish journalist and writer who founded several newspapers and contributed to the cultural and literary life of Galicia, a region that was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time.

Over the centuries, the surname KUPA has also been found in various spellings and regional variations, such as Kupa, Kupa, Koupá, and Kupá, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the Slavic regions where it originated.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kupa

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

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 Kupa 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.

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

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

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