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Cooper Family History

Cooper Surname Meaning

English: occupational name for a maker and repairer of wooden vessels such as barrels, tubs, buckets, casks, and vats from Middle English couper, cowper (apparently from Middle Dutch kūper, a derivative of kūp ‘tub, container’ which was borrowed independently into English as coop). The prevalence of the surname, its cognates, and equivalents bears witness to the fact that this was one of the chief specialist trades in the Middle Ages throughout Europe.

In North America, the English surname has absorbed some cases of like-sounding cognates from other languages, for example Dutch Kuiper. Americanized form of Jewish (Ashkenazic) Kupfer and Kupper (see Kuper).

Dutch: occupational name for a buyer or merchant, Middle Dutch coper.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Cooper family from?

You can see how Cooper families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Cooper family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Cooper families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1840 there were 587 Cooper families living in New York. This was about 17% of all the recorded Cooper's in USA. New York had the highest population of Cooper families in 1840.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Cooper surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
  • 1840
  • 1880
  • 1920
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What did your Cooper ancestors do for a living?

In 1940, Laborer and Maid were the top reported jobs for men and women in the USA named Cooper. 16% of Cooper men worked as a Laborer and 7% of Cooper women worked as a Maid. Some less common occupations for Americans named Cooper were Truck Driver and Cook.

View Census Data for Cooper | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1940

  • Laborer
    16%
  • Farmer
    15%
  • Salesman
    5%
  • Truck Driver
    3%

Top Female Occupations In 1940

  • Maid
    7%
  • Housewife
    6%
  • Housekeeper
    5%
  • Cook
    5%

What Cooper family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 2 million census records available for the last name Cooper. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Cooper census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search US census records for Cooper

Passenger Lists

There are 244,000 immigration records available for the last name Cooper. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Cooper immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 321,000 military records available for the last name Cooper. For the veterans among your Cooper ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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