2000
#10,622
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,769
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.03
Rare Last name
Lipps
Derived from a German nickname for a person with prominent lips or a habitually sullen expression.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,035 Americans carry the last name Lipps. That puts it at #11,390 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.89 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 112,934 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lipps 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
3.0K
1 in 112,934
Census rank
#11,390
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,647 bearers of the surname Lipps in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.89 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11390th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lipps, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lipps
The surname Lipps is believed to have originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the Low German word "lipp," meaning "lip," possibly referring to someone with prominent lips or a physical characteristic related to the lips.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Lipps surname can be found in the baptismal records of St. Michael's Church in Hamburg, Germany, from the year 1572, where a child named Hans Lipps was baptized. This suggests that the name was already in use by that time in the northern German region.
In the 17th century, the Lipps surname appeared in various German records, including tax rolls and land registration documents. For example, a Johann Lipps was listed as a landowner in the village of Kirchheim, near Stuttgart, in 1638.
The name Lipps has also been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One such person was Johann Gottfried Lipps (1719-1794), a German theologian and author who served as a professor at the University of Leipzig. Another was Carl Friedrich Lipps (1773-1843), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics.
In the 19th century, the Lipps surname spread to other parts of Europe and beyond. For instance, a prominent family of Austrian painters and artists included brothers Franz Lipps (1834-1900) and Josef Lipps (1836-1894), who were known for their landscape paintings and portrayals of rural life.
Another notable individual with the Lipps surname was Theodor Lipps (1851-1914), a German philosopher and psychologist who developed the concept of "empathy" (Einfühlung) and made significant contributions to the field of aesthetics.
While the Lipps surname has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to various parts of the world, with descendants of the original Lipps families now found in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lipps
Among Census respondents with the surname Lipps, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Lipps 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 Lipps surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.9% · 2,380
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 98
- Two or more races3.7% · 97
- Black or African American1.7% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lipps
Lipps 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
#10,751
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,968
+199 bearers (+7.2%)
Per 100,000 1.01
Rank movement Down 129 places
2020
#11,390
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,647
-321 bearers (-10.8%)
Per 100,000 0.89
Rank movement Down 639 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,622 | 2,769 | 1.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,751 | 2,968 | 1.01 | +199 bearers (+7.2%) | Down 129 places |
| 2020 | #11,390 | 2,647 | 0.89 | -321 bearers (-10.8%) | Down 639 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 Lipps 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 | #10,751 | #11,390 | -5.9% |
| Count | 2,968 | 2,647 | -10.8% |
| Per 100K | 1.01 | 0.89 | -12.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lipps bearers went from 2,968 to 2,647 (-10.8% change). The surname moved down 639 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,751 to #11,390.
FAQ
Lipps surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lipps?
Name Census estimates that about 3,035 living Americans carry the surname Lipps. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 112,934 residents.
How common is Lipps?
Lipps ranks #11,390 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.89 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,647 people with the surname Lipps. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,035), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.89 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.89 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Lipps.
Has Lipps become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lipps went from 2,968 recorded bearers to 2,647. That is a decrease of 321 (-10.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,751 to #11,390.
What does the Census say about the background of Lipps?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lipps, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Lipps in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (2,380 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lipps appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.9%), Hispanic (3.7%), Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Lipps (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 Lipps mean?
Derived from a German nickname for a person with prominent lips or a habitually sullen expression. 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 Lipps (0.89 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 Americans have the surname Lipps?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.