2000
#3,596
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,075
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.36
Uncommon Last name
Trapp
An occupational surname referring to a trapper or hunter who catches animals using traps.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 10,079 Americans carry the last name Trapp. That puts it at #3,920 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.94 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 34,007 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Trapp 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Trapp with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
10K
1 in 34,007
Census rank
#3,920
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.8K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,789 bearers of the surname Trapp in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.94 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3920th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Trapp, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Black (15.1%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Trapp
Among Census respondents with the surname Trapp, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Black (15.1%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Trapp 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 Trapp surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.1% · 6,688
- Black or African American15.1% · 1,325
- Two or more races4.1% · 358
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 336
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 32
Timeline
Historical Census data for Trapp
Trapp 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
#3,813
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,294
+219 bearers (+2.4%)
Per 100,000 3.15
Rank movement Down 217 places
2020
#3,920
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,789
-505 bearers (-5.4%)
Per 100,000 2.94
Rank movement Down 107 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,596 | 9,075 | 3.36 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,813 | 9,294 | 3.15 | +219 bearers (+2.4%) | Down 217 places |
| 2020 | #3,920 | 8,789 | 2.94 | -505 bearers (-5.4%) | Down 107 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 Trapp 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 | #3,813 | #3,920 | -2.8% |
| Count | 9,294 | 8,789 | -5.4% |
| Per 100K | 3.15 | 2.94 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Trapp bearers went from 9,294 to 8,789 (-5.4% change). The surname moved down 107 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,813 to #3,920.
FAQ
Trapp surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Trapp?
Name Census estimates that about 10,079 living Americans carry the surname Trapp. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 34,007 residents.
How common is Trapp?
Trapp ranks #3,920 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.94 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 8,789 people with the surname Trapp. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (10,079), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.94 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.94 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 Trapp.
Has Trapp become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Trapp went from 9,294 recorded bearers to 8,789. That is a decrease of 505 (-5.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,813 to #3,920.
What does the Census say about the background of Trapp?
Among Census respondents with the surname Trapp, the largest self-reported group is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Black (15.1%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Trapp in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.1% (6,688 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Trapp appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (76.1%), Black (15.1%), Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Trapp (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 Trapp mean?
An occupational surname referring to a trapper or hunter who catches animals using traps. 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 Trapp (2.94 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 have the last name Trapp?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Trapp at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.