Kemp
A masculine name of English origin from a surname meaning "warrior" or "champion".
Name Census estimates that about 871 living Americans carry the first name Kemp. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kemp today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kemp births was 1957 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kemp. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
871
~ 1 in 393,518 Americans
Peak year
1957
31 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,018
Tracked since 1898
Census
Kemp in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 819 people with the first name Kemp, which placed it at #14,409 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,409
National first-name rank
People counted
819
819 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kemp
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kemp is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.8%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kemp 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kemp at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.1% · 574
- Black or African American18.8% · 154
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 30
- Two or more races3.4% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 9
Popularity
Kemp: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kemp from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 192 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kemp by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kemp during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kemps live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kemp
The name Kemp has its origins in the Old English word "cempa," which means "warrior" or "champion." This name was prevalent among Anglo-Saxon communities in England during the Middle Ages.
Kemp is believed to have been derived from the Old English word "camp," meaning "battle" or "contest." It was a name given to those who exhibited bravery and strength in combat or competitions.
In ancient Germanic cultures, names were often chosen to reflect desired qualities or achievements. The name Kemp was likely bestowed upon individuals who had proven their valor in battle or contests of skill.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kemp can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, including "Cempe" and "Kempe."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kemp. One of the most famous was John Kemp (c. 1380-1454), an English cardinal and Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of Henry VI.
Another prominent figure was Sir Nicholas Kemp (c. 1504-1589), an English soldier and naval commander who served under King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. He played a significant role in the naval campaigns against the Spanish Armada.
In the realm of literature, Kemp was the last name of William Kemp (c. 1560-1619), an English actor and comic playwright who was a member of Shakespeare's acting company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
In the field of sports, Jack Kemp (1935-2009) was an American professional football player and politician who served as a Congressman and as the 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Lastly, Shawn Kemp (born 1969) is a former American professional basketball player who played in the NBA for several teams, including the Seattle SuperSonics, where he was a six-time NBA All-Star.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Kemp, a name steeped in the tradition of strength, valor, and achievement.
People
Kemp + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kemp as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kemp: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kemp?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 871 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kemp going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 393,518 US residents.
Is Kemp a common name?
We classify Kemp as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,286 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kemp most popular?
The single biggest year for Kemp was 1957, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kemp is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kemp in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 819 people with the name Kemp, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,409 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kemp in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kemp?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kemp leans strongly male. 784 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 35 female bearers (4.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kemp?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kemp is White at 70.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.8%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kemp most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kemp in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.1% (574 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kemp in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kemp a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kemp in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kemp still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kemp in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kemp can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Kemp?
Find out how many Americans are named Kemp on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.