Surprise is a community in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The city’s population was 30,848 at the time of the 2000 census; nevertheless, economic growth has increased the city’s population to 117,517 at the time of the 2010 census, a 281% rise. Flora Mae Statler formed Surprise in 1938, naming it Surprise because she “would be surprised if the town ever amounted to anything.”