# Karp (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/karp/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Yiddish |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 5,577 |
| US rank (2010) | 6,143 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 55,361 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.1% (5,359 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As a German, Polish, and Jewish surname, from Yiddish and German Karpfen (“carp”). * As a German, Polish, and Russian surname, reduced from the Koine Greek saint names Καρπόφορος (Karpóphoros, “fruit-bearing”) and Πολύκαρπος (Polúkarpos, “rich in fruit”), from πολυ- (polu-) + καρπός (karpós).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Karp in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Karp in the United States.

## People named Karp

- Richard M. Karp, American theoretical computer scientist (b.1935)
- David Karp, American web developer and entrepreneur

## Similar surnames

Krapf, Kirby, Kerby, Krupa, Kropp, Krupp, Kropf, Korb, Korpi.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.