2010
#150,452
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Liepe
A surname derived from the German word for "linden tree" or "linden grove".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Liepe. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Liepe 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Liepe in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Liepe, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Liepe
The surname Liepe originated in the Prussian regions of Germany during the 12th century. It is derived from the Old German word "lip", meaning "edge" or "rim", and likely referred to someone who lived on the outskirts of a town or village.
The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to 1225, when a "Johannes de Lyppe" was mentioned in a document from the town of Quedlinburg. Other early spellings include Lipe, Lippe, and Lype. The name was also found in various medieval records from the regions of Saxony and Westphalia.
One of the first notable individuals with the surname was Bernhard zur Lippe, a 13th-century nobleman who served as the Lord of Lippe, a former state and principality located in modern-day North Rhine-Westphalia. The Lippe family ruled over this region for several centuries, and the name became firmly associated with the area.
In the 14th century, a wealthy merchant named Heinrich Liepe was recorded as living in the city of Lübeck, a prominent trading center in northern Germany. He was likely involved in the thriving Hanseatic League, a powerful economic alliance of merchant guilds and market towns.
During the Renaissance, a scholar and humanist named Willibald Pirckheimer Liepe (1470-1530) gained recognition for his work in translating ancient Greek texts and his advocacy for educational reform.
In the 19th century, a German painter named Franz von Lenbach Liepe (1836-1904) achieved fame for his portraits of European royalty and other notable figures of the time.
Throughout its history, the Liepe surname has also been associated with several place names, such as Lippstadt, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, and Lippe, a former principality and state within the Holy Roman Empire.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Liepe
Among Census respondents with the surname Liepe, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Liepe 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 Liepe surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.3% · 92
- Two or more races7.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Liepe
Liepe appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-6 bearers (-5.5%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 3,730 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #150,452 | 109 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -6 bearers (-5.5%) | Down 3,730 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 Liepe 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 | #150,452 | #154,182 | -2.5% |
| Count | 109 | 103 | -5.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Liepe bearers went from 109 to 103 (-5.5% change). The surname moved down 3,730 positions in the national ranking, going from #150,452 to #154,182.
FAQ
Liepe surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Liepe?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Liepe. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Liepe?
Liepe ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 103 people with the surname Liepe. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Liepe.
Has Liepe become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Liepe went from 109 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 6 (-5.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #150,452 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Liepe?
Among Census respondents with the surname Liepe, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%). 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 Liepe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.3% (92 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Liepe appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.3%), Two or More Races (7.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%). 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 Liepe (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 Liepe mean?
A surname derived from the German word for "linden tree" or "linden grove". 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 Liepe (0.03 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 common is the surname Liepe?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Liepe on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.