ALLSOPP
The surname Allsopp is of English origin, deriving ultimately from the Old English personal names Ealhbeorht and Aelle, meanings “noble and bright” and “Aelle’s hop”, respectively. The name first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Elleshope”, a place-name in Derbyshire, and was later recorded in the 1241 Registrum Antiquissimum as “Aleshop”. By the late thirteenth century the name was found in the civil rolls as William Alsape (Cambridgeshire, 1273) and Philip Alsope (Cambridgeshire, 1279).
During the reign of King Henry XI (1154‑1189) the earliest documented spelling, “Gamel de Haleshoppe”, is preserved in the Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire. In the early sixteenth century Thomas Alsop, a gentleman poticary to Henry VII, is listed in the Privy Purse expenses of Princess Mary. Over the centuries the surname acquired a number of variants, including Allsop, Alssopp, Allsup, Allsep, Elsip and Elsop; all are recorded in parish and civil registers from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century.
By the long‑established period the family had become acknowledged as a local land‑owning line, particularly in the Midlands. The duchy of Derbyshire possesses a grant of arms for the Alsop family of Alsop, Derbyshire: a black shield bearing three silver doves, each rising and legged, with red beaks, and a crest of a gold dove with wings expanded, a red beak, and holding in its beak an ear of wheat gold. The hawthorn wards of the coat are often cited as a symbolic reminder of the family’s agrarian roots and noble status.
Modern geographical concentrations of the surname are most frequent in the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire. In the broader United Kingdom it can also be found, to a lesser extent, in Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire and, outside England, in Scotland, Ireland and in the United States and Australia. In the United States the name occurs chiefly in the Upper Midwest—Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa—and in New England states such as Vermont and New Hampshire.
Prominent modern bearers of the name include Christopher Allsopp, the Director of the Royal Horticultural Society between 1984 and 2002, and his son Jonathan Allsopp, a British fashion stylist. Sir Harold Walker Allsopp, styled as Lord Allsopp, served as a member of the House of Lords for many years. These individuals illustrate the continued visibility of the Allsopp surname within public life.
In conclusion, the Allsopp surname is rooted in Anglo‑Saxon personal naming traditions, has evolved through medieval land‑holding and civil records, and remains an emblem of regional heritage and social distinction across both the United Kingdom and overseas diasporic communities.
Typical given names associated with the Allsopp surname
Male
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Carole
- Christine
- Diana
- Elizabeth
- Jacqueline
- Jennifer
- Julie
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Allsopp in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 4,715 people named Allsopp in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,003rd most common surname in Britain. Around 72 in a million people in Britain are named Allsopp.
Famous people named Allsopp
- Kirstie Allsopp - Television presenter
- Jack Christopher Allsopp - Singer
- Frederic Allsopp - Cricketer (1857 to 1928)
- Thomas Allsopp - Cricketer (1880 to 1919)
- George Allsopp - Brewer and Conservative politician (1846 to 1907)
- Herbert Allsopp - Cricketer (1855 to 1920)
- Frederick W. Allsopp - -US-American author, newspaperman, book collector, and bookstore owner (1867 to 1946)
- Fred Allsopp - (1869 to 1912)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.