Frequency: (288)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. German: topographic names from any of various places called Kempen, in the Rhineland, in the Ruhrgebiet, and Schleswig-Holstein, or from Kempno in Poland (Polish Kępno).
2. Belgian: regional name for someone from Kempen, a region in Brabant.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
Dictionary of American Family Names. Copyright © 2006 Patrick Hanks. All rights reserved.
