Kemper
Masculine · “a fighter or champion”
Kemper is given to both — 1,598 boys and 301 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Kemper is a German surname about fighting or about fields, depending on which of two roots it comes from — and both are live. It reached American birth records through the usual southern route of a family surname given to a son, and its peak is 1947.
How old is the name Kemper?
Kemper first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Kemper alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,300 people named Kemper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kemper most popular?
Kemper peaked in 1947, reaching #1850 nationally. Today it ranks #6143, 4,293 places below that high. See the whole 1947 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From campus to Kemper
The story of Kemper
German-speaking migration was the largest single source of nineteenth-century immigration to the United States, and it brought an enormous stock of surnames. Kemper is among them and became established particularly in Missouri, Kentucky and Texas. Its promotion to a given name follows the American practice of using a mother's family name, which lasted longest in the South. The surname has some American visibility of its own through Kemper Military School in Missouri and through the insurance company, both named for families of the name.
Meaningscholars disagree
a fighter or champion; or a dweller by an enclosed field
Two derivations, both standard. German Kampfer means a fighter or champion, from Kampf, 'battle', which itself comes from Latin campus, 'field' — by way of the campus where Roman armies drilled. The second route takes Kemper directly from Low German kamp, an enclosed field or plot, so a Kemper is someone who lives by one. The two are ultimately the same Latin word arriving twice, once through military usage and once through agricultural.
How the name formed
- campus
- kamp
- Kemper
Related forms: Kemper · Kamper
Pronouncing Kemper
KEM-per
Two syllables, stress on the first, with both r's fully pronounced in American English. German says it the same way. There is no competing pronunciation.
Nicknames for Kemper
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 200970 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1850reached in 1947
- Change vs 2023
- −56.3%14 in 2025, from 32
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Kemper in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kemper in German — same name
- Kamper in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Mississippi, Kansas.
Kempers among us
people named Kemper are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 122,005 born in 2025 was named Kemper
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lundy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kemper's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lundy climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lundy's path sketches the road Kemper is walking now.
Kemper sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Kemper beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kemper in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The pronunciation and spelling are both obvious on first contact.
- Kemp is a usable short form and a genuine surname of its own.
- The Latin route from campus to both fighting and fields is a good story.
- It reads strongly as a surname and will be taken for one on forms.
- It is easily heard as Kemper, Kempton or Camper.
- Its American curve is mid-century, which places a bearer's generation.
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What they receive
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Kemper
Masculine · #6143 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kempers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Kemper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kemper in 2025?
- Kemper ranks #6143 among US boy names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kemper?
- About 1 in every 122,005 US boys born in 2025 was named Kemper — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kemper with classmates?
- Kemper will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kemper
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruel#6143 · Cornell#6143 · Vasco#6143 · Yates#6143 · Roark#6143 · Raja#6143 · Marquan#6143 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kemper? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kemper and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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