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

Trapp, 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 Trapp surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Trapp in America

Trapp is the 3813th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Trapp surname appeared 9,294 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Trapp.

We can also compare 2010 data for Trapp 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 Trapp

The surname Trapp is of German origin and dates back to the late medieval period. It is derived from the Middle High German word "trappe," which means "stair" or "step." This suggests that the name may have originated as a occupational surname for a stair builder or someone who lived near a set of stairs or steps.

One of the earliest recorded references to the surname Trapp can be found in the Nuremberg Chronicles, a 15th-century illustrated world history book published in 1493. This suggests that the name was already established in Germany by that time.

In the 16th century, the Trapp surname appears in various records across Germany, including church registers and tax rolls. Notable individuals from this era include Hans Trapp, a Lutheran theologian born in Nuremberg in 1532, and Georg Trapp, a German composer and organist who lived from 1552 to 1619.

During the 17th century, the surname Trapp became more widespread throughout German-speaking regions. One notable figure was Johann Ernst Trapp, a German philologist and educator who was born in 1675 and played a significant role in the development of classical education in Germany.

The 18th century saw the emergence of several prominent individuals with the Trapp surname, including Johann Trapp, a German painter born in 1717, and Johann Georg Trapp, a German writer and theologian who lived from 1746 to 1818.

In the 19th century, the Trapp family gained international recognition through the story of the von Trapp family, whose lives were depicted in the musical and film "The Sound of Music." Georg Ludwig von Trapp, an Austro-Bavarian naval officer, was born in 1880 and married Agathe Whitehead in 1911. After Agathe's death, Georg married Maria Augusta Kutschera, who became the stepmother to his seven children. The family's escape from Nazi-occupied Austria and their eventual settlement in the United States became the basis for the famous musical.

Throughout its history, the surname Trapp has been associated with various places, such as the town of Trapp in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, founded by the von Trapp family after their arrival in the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Trapp

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

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

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

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