Explore the Family Name Tempest

The meaning of Tempest

English (Yorkshire): nickname for someone with a blustery temperament, from Middle English, Old French tempest(e) ‘storm’ (from Latin tempestas ‘weather, season’, a derivative of tempus ‘time’).

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

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

The surname Tempest, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, has seen a slight decrease in popularity in the United States between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 36,807th in terms of popularity and by 2010, it had slipped slightly to 37,229th, marking a change of -1.15 percent. However, despite its ranking decline, the actual count of people bearing the surname rose from 572 in 2000 to 599 in 2010, an increase of 4.72 percent. The proportion per 100,000 also saw a small decrease from 0.21 in 2000 to 0.2 in 2010, reflecting a change of -4.76 percent.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#36,807	#37,229	-1.15%
Count	572	599	4.72%
Proportion per 100k	0.21	0.2	-4.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Tempest

In terms of ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of individuals with the surname Tempest identify as White, although this figure decreased slightly from 96.5 percent in 2000 to 94.66 percent in 2010. During the same period, there was a marginal increase in those identifying as Hispanic, from 1.75 percent to 1.84 percent. For the first time in 2010, small percentages of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander (0.83 percent) and two or more races (1.67 percent) were recorded. There were no reported instances of individuals identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either 2000 or 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.5%	94.66%	-1.91%
Hispanic	1.75%	1.84%	5.14%
Two or More Races	0%	1.67%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.83%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%