Explore the Family Name Peper

The meaning of Peper

1. North German, Jewish (Ashkenazic) and English: variant of Pepper. 2. Dutch: metonymic occupational name for a spicer, from Middle Dutch pe(e)per ‘pepper’. Some characteristic forenames: German Heinz, Bernhard, Ewald, Leonhard, Reinhold, Udo.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname 'Peper' has seen a shift in its popularity ranking between 2000 and 2010. Ranked 22,258th in 2000, the surname slipped to a ranking of 24,718th in 2010, marking a decrease of 11.05%. Concurrently, the count of people with this surname also decreased slightly from 1081 in 2000 to 1009 in 2010, signifying a 6.66% decline. The proportion per 100,000 people dropped by 15.0%, from 0.4 in 2000 to 0.34 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#22,258	#24,718	-11.05%
Count	1,081	1,009	-6.66%
Proportion per 100k	0.4	0.34	-15%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Peper

The data from the Decennial U.S. Census also provides insight into the ethnic identity associated with the surname 'Peper'. In 2000, the majority of those with the surname identified as White (96.11%), followed by small percentages identifying as Hispanic (1.30%), and Two or More Races (1.39%). By 2010, there were slight changes. The percentage of individuals identifying as White saw a minor decrease to 95.84%, while those identifying as Hispanic also decreased to 1.19%. Individuals identifying with Two or More Races saw a decrease of 21.58%. Interestingly, there was an emergence of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Black, both at 0.59%. The representation of American Indian and Alaskan Native saw a slight increase from 0.56% to 0.59%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.11%	95.84%	-0.28%
Hispanic	1.3%	1.19%	-8.46%
Two or More Races	1.39%	1.09%	-21.58%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.69%	0%
Black	0%	0.59%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.56%	0.59%	5.36%