Kemper
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Kemper
Kemper is a familiar surname that is sometimes adopted as a given name. As such, it is a gender-neutral choice, though an incredibly rare one at that.
Kemper for girls#5824 US
As a surname, Kemper originated in the border region of Germany and the Netherlands. There are slight nuances in meaning between the countries — in Germany, Kemper referenced a serf, while in the Netherlands it referred to anyone who worked with hemp. Kemper can also designate a person from a town named Kempen, a dozen of which can be found near the Dutch-German border.
You may associate Kemper with actor Ellie Kemper, who starred in TV shows such as The Office and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Kemper for boys#6288 US
As a given name, Kemper is a rare gender-neutral choice, given to fewer than 50 American babies at last count. It's much more familiar as a surname, as in that of Ellie Kemper, an actor from The Office and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
The German form of Kemper designated a peasant farmer, while the Dutch referenced someone who worked with hemp. Kemper may have also been used as a surname for people from one of the German-Dutch towns called Kempen.
Pronounced KEM-pur.
As of October 2026, Kemper ranked #5824 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #4930 in 2023.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | #2,832 | 42 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | #2,399 | 54 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | #3,036 | 39 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | #2,822 | 43 |
| 2018 | — | 0 | #3,024 | 39 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | #4,284 | 24 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | #3,971 | 26 |
| 2021 | — | 0 | #4,857 | 20 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | #3,825 | 29 |
| 2023 | #4,930 | 27 | #3,591 | 32 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | #4,247 | 25 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
Similar names
These 40 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Kemper.