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.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
1,596,579
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Kemp
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.com.
You can find out where the majority of the Kemp families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Kemp immigration records
You can find out when most of the Kemp families immigrated
to the United States.
You can focus your search to immigration records dating from that era.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Kemp birth and death records
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your ancestors lived in harsh conditions.
A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in
your family.
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