Explore the Family Name Korpela

The meaning of Korpela

Finnish: habitational name from farms so named, from korpi ‘remote forest, wilderness’ + the locative suffix -la. Established as a hereditary surname since the 19th century mainly in southern, western, and southeastern Finland. Some characteristic forenames: Finnish Tauno, Waino, Arvo, Juha, Paavo, Seppo, Toivo, Wiljo.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Korpela in the United States?

The surname Korpela saw slight fluctuations in its popularity based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, it was ranked 36,807 and by 2010, it moved to 37,691, reflecting a minor decrease of 2.4%. The count, however, saw a small growth of 3.15% with 572 individuals carrying the Korpela surname in 2000 and this number increased to 590 in 2010. This resulted in a decrease in proportion per 100k people by 4.76%, shifting from 0.21 in 2000 to 0.2 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#36,807	#37,691	-2.4%
Count	572	590	3.15%
Proportion per 100k	0.21	0.2	-4.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Korpela

In terms of ethnic identity, the Korpela surname is predominantly associated with White ethnicity, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, 97.03% of those with the Korpela surname identified as White, slightly decreasing to 95.25% by 2010. Interestingly, Hispanic representation within this surname nearly doubled from 1.40% in 2000 to 2.71% in 2010, marking a considerable increase of 93.57%. Those identifying as having two or more races decreased marginally by 2.30%, from 0.87% in 2000 to 0.85% in 2010. There were no recorded instances of the surname among Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnic groups.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.03%	95.25%	-1.83%
Hispanic	1.4%	2.71%	93.57%
Two or More Races	0.87%	0.85%	-2.3%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%