2000
#4,261
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,695
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.85
Rare Last name
Loper
An occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of spurs for horseback riding.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 8,733 Americans carry the last name Loper. That puts it at #4,530 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.55 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 39,248 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Loper 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
8.7K
1 in 39,248
Census rank
#4,530
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 7,616 bearers of the surname Loper in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.55 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4530th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Loper, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (6.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Loper
The surname Loper is of Dutch origin, deriving from the Middle Dutch word "loper," meaning "runner" or "messenger." This occupation-based surname was likely first given to individuals who worked as couriers or messengers in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Loper surname can be found in the Dutch province of Friesland, where a certain Pieter Loper was mentioned in a legal document from 1487. The name also appeared in various town records across the Netherlands during the 16th and 17th centuries, with spellings sometimes varying between Loper, Looper, and Looper.
In the mid-17th century, a notable figure named Jacobus Loper (1623-1670) was a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his genre scenes and portraits. He was born in Amsterdam and worked primarily in that city, where his works can still be found in museums today.
As the Dutch established colonies in the Americas, the Loper surname began to appear in colonial records. One of the earliest instances was Pieter Loper, who arrived in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in 1654 from the Netherlands.
Another notable individual with this surname was Hendrik Loper (1791-1869), a Dutch military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) from 1856 to 1861.
In the United Kingdom, the Loper surname can be traced back to the late 16th century, possibly derived from the Dutch immigrants who settled in England during that period. One of the earliest records is that of William Loper, who was born in London in 1598.
Over the centuries, the Loper surname has been carried by various individuals across different fields, including Pieter Loper (1732-1799), a Dutch businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Rotterdam from 1786 to 1795, and Johan Loper (1865-1936), a Norwegian-born American artist known for his landscape paintings.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loper
Among Census respondents with the surname Loper, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (6.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Loper 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 Loper surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.5% · 5,904
- Black or African American11.6% · 880
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 462
- Two or more races3.6% · 275
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 45
Timeline
Historical Census data for Loper
Loper 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
#4,467
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,950
+255 bearers (+3.3%)
Per 100,000 2.70
Rank movement Down 206 places
2020
#4,530
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,616
-334 bearers (-4.2%)
Per 100,000 2.55
Rank movement Down 63 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,261 | 7,695 | 2.85 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,467 | 7,950 | 2.70 | +255 bearers (+3.3%) | Down 206 places |
| 2020 | #4,530 | 7,616 | 2.55 | -334 bearers (-4.2%) | Down 63 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 Loper 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 | #4,467 | #4,530 | -1.4% |
| Count | 7,950 | 7,616 | -4.2% |
| Per 100K | 2.70 | 2.55 | -5.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Loper bearers went from 7,950 to 7,616 (-4.2% change). The surname moved down 63 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,467 to #4,530.
FAQ
Loper surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Loper?
Name Census estimates that about 8,733 living Americans carry the surname Loper. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 39,248 residents.
How common is Loper?
Loper ranks #4,530 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.55 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 7,616 people with the surname Loper. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (8,733), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.55 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.55 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Loper.
Has Loper become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Loper went from 7,950 recorded bearers to 7,616. That is a decrease of 334 (-4.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,467 to #4,530.
What does the Census say about the background of Loper?
Among Census respondents with the surname Loper, the largest self-reported group is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Loper in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.5% (5,904 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Loper appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (77.5%), Black (11.6%), Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Loper (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 Loper mean?
An occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of spurs for horseback riding. 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 Loper (2.55 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 people share the surname Loper?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.