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The kemp Surname

kemp Name Meaning and History

  1. English, Scottish, Dutch, and North German: status name for a champion, Middle English and Middle Low German kempe. In the Middle Ages a champion was a professional fighter on behalf of others; for example the King’s Champion, at the coronation, had the duty of issuing a general challenge to battle to anyone who denied the king’s right to the throne. The Middle English word corresponds to Old English cempa and Old Norse kempa ‘warrior’; both these go back to Germanic campo ‘warrior’, which is the source of the Dutch and North German name, corresponding to High German Kampf.
  2. Dutch: metonymic occupational name for someone who grew or processed hemp, from Middle Dutch canep ‘hemp’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The kemp name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the kemp family name as far back in history as possible.

kemp Family Facts

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Distribution of kemp Families in the US in 1920
Number of kemp families
 219-435
 74-218		 1-73
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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The information for this map came from Ancestry.com’s US Federal Census Collection.
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More resources for your kemp family history

Kemp message board


Threads: 1192 - Messages: 2584
ThreadAuthorReplies
Presley Kemp DonaWilkerson41 0
William Miller KEMP (1814-1886) George A. Gray 4
James Kemp familytimes11 1
kemps of molesey lesleyhoward207 0
Kemp, Arthur (Jack) Dewitt "The Egg Man" (OBIT MD 3-15-2008) obituary33b 0
Kemps and Kings of Texas MichelleMiller453 18
JOHN KEMP search gasimmonds 0
Kemp & Associated Families from VA and MO, USA davidwkemp 3
William Kemp, bap Feb 1881 Cork, Co. Cork, Ire>NYC 1908 TBPurvis85 0
Frances Diane Kemp of Spotsylvania Co Va oclarke11 0
Viewing 1-10 of 1192 |  Go to the full board

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