How common is the surname Hepburn?

3,479 people in the United States had the surname Hepburn in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 88,745 Americans. It ranked 9,350th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Hepburn?

Audrey Hepburn, British actress (1929–1993), followed by Katharine Hepburn.

Where is the surname Hepburn most common?

Wikidata records people named Hepburn in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Scotland and 1 other country.

Is the surname Hepburn getting more or less common?

More common. 3,291 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,479 in 2010, up 5.7%.

The surname Hepburn

An English surname, carried by 3,479 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex H165

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Hepburn is more common than 94.2% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Old English hēa, definite form of hēah (“high”) + byrġen (“tumulus”). The romanization system is named after its inventor, James Curtis Hepburn.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,479 people named Hepburn in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 88,745 Americans. That is up 5.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,291.

#9,350

rank among US surnames

3,479

people in 2010

1.2

per 100,000 Americans

+5.7%

change since 2000 (was #9,118)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#9,344	Lampert	3,484	88,618
#9,345	Helfrich	3,482	88,669
#9,347	Schuyler	3,480	88,720
#9,350	Hepburn	3,479	88,745
#9,352	McCammon	3,478	88,771
#9,355	Acord	3,477	88,797

Who is named Hepburn

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

60% of people named Hepburn identified as white (not Hispanic), 34% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 60%
Black (not Hispanic) 34%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Hepburns

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Audrey Hepburn
British actress (1929–1993)
Katharine Hepburn
American actress (1907–2003)
James Curtis Hepburn
American physician, educator, and phonologist of Japanese (1815–1911)
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
1st Duke of Orkney and third and final husband of Mary, Queen of Scots (lived 1534-1578)
Michael Hepburn
Australian racing cyclist, born 1991

Notable Hepburns come mostly from the United States (2), the United Kingdom (1) and the Kingdom of Scotland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Hepburn

Hebron

Hepburn has the Soundex code H165, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H165.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Hepburn come from?: From Old English hēa, definite form of hēah (“high”) + byrġen (“tumulus”). The romanization system is named after its inventor, James Curtis Hepburn.
How common is the surname Hepburn?: 3,479 people in the United States had the surname Hepburn in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 88,745 Americans. It ranked 9,350th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Hepburn?: In the 2010 Census, 60% of people named Hepburn identified as white (not Hispanic), and 34% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Hepburn?: Audrey Hepburn, British actress (1929–1993), followed by Katharine Hepburn.
Where is the surname Hepburn most common?: Wikidata records people named Hepburn in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Scotland and 1 other country.
Is the surname Hepburn getting more or less common?: More common. 3,291 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,479 in 2010, up 5.7%.