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

Kurup, 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 Kurup surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kurup in America

Kurup is the 48436th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kurup surname appeared 436 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 Kurup.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kurup 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 Kurup

The surname Kurup is of Indian origin, specifically from the southwestern state of Kerala. It is believed to have originated during the 12th or 13th century CE. The name is thought to be derived from the ancient Tamil word "Kurupu," meaning "frog" or "toad." It is speculated that the name may have been assigned to individuals who lived near water bodies or had a profession related to water or agriculture.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Kurup can be found in ancient inscriptions and copper plate grants from Kerala, dating back to the medieval period. One notable example is the mention of "Kuruppu Swamikal" in the Vaishnava Sanskrit work, "Bhagavata Purana," written around the 13th century CE.

In the 16th century, a prominent figure named Kurup Nair was a chieftain and military leader in the princely state of Calicut (now Kozhikode). He played a significant role in the region's resistance against the Portuguese invasion and is mentioned in historical records from that era.

Another notable figure was Unni Kurup, a 16th-century poet and scholar from Kerala, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Malayalam literature. His works, such as the famous "Unni Nair Charitham," have been widely studied and celebrated for their literary merit.

In the 18th century, Kunchan Nambiar Kurup was a renowned poet and scholar from the royal court of the Kingdom of Travancore (now part of Kerala). His contributions to Malayalam poetry and literature are highly regarded, and he is considered one of the most influential figures in the literary history of Kerala.

During the 19th century, Kottayam Veluthampi Kurup, a social reformer and scholar, played a crucial role in the renaissance of Malayalam language and literature. He is credited with establishing the first Malayalam printing press and publishing the first Malayalam newspaper, "Rajya Samacharam."

The name Kurup has also been associated with various place names in Kerala, such as Kuruppath, Kurupampady, and Kuruppu, indicating the historical presence and influence of individuals bearing this surname in the region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kurup

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

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!