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

Roper, 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 Roper surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Roper in America

Roper is the 1787th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Roper surname appeared 20,065 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Roper.

We can also compare 2010 data for Roper 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 Roper

The surname Roper has its origins in the Old English pre-7th century word 'rap' or 'rap-ere', meaning a rope maker or rope seller. It is an occupational surname, denoting the profession and trade of the earliest bearers of the name.

Roper is an English surname that first appeared in records dating back to the 12th century. One of the earliest known references is from the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1176, where it is recorded as 'Radulfus le Roper'. The surname is also found in various other medieval records such as the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1279, listing a 'Walter le Roper'.

The Domesday Book of 1086 does not appear to contain any direct references to the Roper surname, although it does mention individuals with occupations related to rope-making, such as 'cordarius' or 'cordwainer'. This suggests that the surname likely emerged from these earlier occupational titles.

In the 13th century, the Roper family held lands in the county of Kent, England. One notable figure from this time was Richard Roper (c.1235-c.1295), a wealthy landowner and benefactor of religious orders in Kent.

The earliest known record of the Roper surname in its modern spelling dates back to 1327, when a John Roper is mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire.

Notable historical figures with the Roper surname include:

1. Sir John Roper (c.1493-1524), an English nobleman and courtier during the reign of Henry VIII.
2. Margaret Roper (1505-1544), the daughter of Sir Thomas More, and a noted scholar and humanist.
3. Abel Roper (c.1665-1726), an English writer and biographer who authored "The Life of Mrs. Catherine Philips, The Celebrated Venetian Lady".
4. Trevor Roper (1914-2003), a renowned British historian and author, best known for his work on the last days of Adolf Hitler.
5. Jonathan Roper (1701-1754), an American colonial merchant and politician from Massachusetts.

The Roper surname has also been associated with various place names throughout England, such as Roper's Gate in Norfolk, Roper's Close in Gloucestershire, and Roper's Farm in Hampshire, further reflecting its occupational origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Roper

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Roper, 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!