2000
#37,591
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 557
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.21
Very Rare Last name
Koppen
A Dutch surname meaning "bowl" or "cup".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 610 Americans carry the last name Koppen. That puts it at #43,697 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.18 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 561,892 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Koppen 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
610
1 in 561,892
Census rank
#43,697
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
532
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 532 bearers of the surname Koppen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.18 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 43697th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Koppen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Koppen
The surname Koppen has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "koppen," which means "to strike" or "to beat." This suggests that the name may have initially been used as a descriptive term for someone who worked as a blacksmith or in a similar trade that involved striking or hammering.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Koppen can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents dating back to the 13th century. In this collection, a person named Henricus Koppen is mentioned in a document from the year 1285, indicating the presence of the name in that region during that time period.
As the name spread across different regions of Germany, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Koppen, Koeppen, and Köppen. These variations often reflected local dialects and regional differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Koppen was Johann Koppen, a German theologian and reformer born in 1521 in the city of Erfurt. He played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation movement and was a close associate of Martin Luther.
Another prominent individual with the surname Koppen was Wladimir Koppen, a German-Russian botanist and meteorologist born in 1846. He is best known for developing the Koppen climate classification system, which is widely used in the field of geography and climatology to categorize different climate types around the world.
In the 19th century, the name Koppen gained further recognition with the birth of Friedrich Theodor Koppen in 1833. He was a German historian and philologist who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek literature and culture.
The surname Koppen has also been associated with notable figures in the arts and literature. For example, Adolf Koppen, born in 1869, was a German poet and writer who was part of the Naturalist literary movement in the late 19th century.
While the surname Koppen originated in Germany, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including the Netherlands, where it is sometimes spelled as Koppen or Koppens. However, the majority of individuals bearing this surname can still trace their roots back to the German regions where the name first emerged.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Koppen
Among Census respondents with the surname Koppen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Koppen 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 Koppen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.0% · 500
- Two or more races3.2% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 10
- Black or African American0.8% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Koppen
Koppen 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
#37,341
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 597
+40 bearers (+7.2%)
Per 100,000 0.20
Rank movement Up 250 places
2020
#43,697
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 532
-65 bearers (-10.9%)
Per 100,000 0.18
Rank movement Down 6,356 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #37,591 | 557 | 0.21 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #37,341 | 597 | 0.20 | +40 bearers (+7.2%) | Up 250 places |
| 2020 | #43,697 | 532 | 0.18 | -65 bearers (-10.9%) | Down 6,356 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 Koppen 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 | #37,341 | #43,697 | -17.0% |
| Count | 597 | 532 | -10.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.20 | 0.18 | -11.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Koppen bearers went from 597 to 532 (-10.9% change). The surname moved down 6,356 positions in the national ranking, going from #37,341 to #43,697.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Koppen
FAQ
Koppen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Koppen?
Name Census estimates that about 610 living Americans carry the surname Koppen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 561,892 residents.
How common is Koppen?
Koppen ranks #43,697 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.18 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 532 people with the surname Koppen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (610), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.18 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.18 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Koppen.
Has Koppen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Koppen went from 597 recorded bearers to 532. That is a decrease of 65 (-10.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #37,341 to #43,697.
What does the Census say about the background of Koppen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Koppen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Koppen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.0% (500 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Koppen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.0%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Koppen (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 Koppen mean?
A Dutch surname meaning "bowl" or "cup". 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 Koppen (0.18 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 are called Koppen?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the last name Koppen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.