Kempf
A German surname meaning “fighter” or “champion,” originally a nickname for a warrior or combative person.
The #5,465 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 48,514 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kempf is generally explained from German Kampf, “fight” or “battle,” with the surname used for a fighter, champion, or hard contender. Older scholarship also connects it with related forms such as Kemp, Kempe, and Kampe, all pointing to the same basic idea of combat or struggle. The name may originally have begun as a nickname for a brave or quarrelsome man, and in some contexts it could later take on a more ironical or descriptive sense.
History
The name appears in German-speaking areas in several related spellings, and historical writers group it with other combat-based surnames. The form is especially associated with northern and western German usage in older surname discussions. Related spellings such as Kemp, Kempe, and Kampe helped spread the family-name group across German regions and into neighboring areas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries sometimes gloss the name simply as “a fighter,” showing how directly medieval nicknames could become family names.
From the historical record
“Campo (noch fries. VN.), Chempho: Campo; Campe — Kampf — Kempe — Kämpffe; Kempf Qeu, Kamps; Kampen, Patr. A. Overkämping (Westf.). Vklf. (k) : Kempke. Gen. Kempkens. Kamp III. aus dem lat. campus, welches schon früh in das Niederdeutsche und”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen