ALLSUP
Allsup is an English surname of locational origin. It is historically associated with the small valley known as Alsop-en-le-Dale, a chapelry in the parish of Ashborne, Derbyshire.
The name derives from Old English elements. The personal name Aelle, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Elleshope, and later in 1241 as Aleshop, represents a pre‑seventeenth‑century given name. The suffix hop means a small enclosed valley or a sheltered place. Consequently, Allsup can be understood to mean “the dweller at Aelle’s valley” or, more generally, “the resident of a valley belonging to Alsi or Alfsige.”
Early documentary evidence for the surname appears in the Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire dated 1175, where the name is recorded as Gamel de Haleshoppe. The name was also found in the 1273 Cambridgeshire roll as William Alsape and in the 1279 roll as Philip Alsope. In 1538 a Thomas Alsop is listed as a gentleman potician in the Privy Purse expenses of Princess Mary, illustrating the continued use of the name within England.
The surname has undergone a range of orthographic variations. Common forms include Allsop, Al(l)sopp, Allsup, Allsep, Elsip, and Elsop. These variations reflect the fluid nature of spelling prior to standardisation and have been preserved in parish and civil records.
A coat of arms has been granted to the Alsop family of Alsop in Derbyshire. The blazon consists of a black shield bearing three silver doves that are rising, legged, and beaked red. The crest is a gold dove with wings expanded, beaked and legged red, holding a golden ear of wheat in its beak. The imagery emphasises peace, prosperity, and a connection to agricultural life.
While the surname remains concentrated in the Midlands of England, it has spread extensively beyond the United Kingdom. In the United States it is the six‑thousand‑seventh most common surname, with significant concentrations in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, and notable numbers in California, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. The name can also be found in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Norway, and South Africa, evidence of migration patterns from the British Isles to the wider world.
Historically, the Allsup family has been associated with rural occupations, particularly farming in the Derbyshire countryside. The name’s reconstruction as “someone who lived near or on a temple meadow” underscores a long‑standing link to the land and to ecclesiastical sites, symbolising steadfastness and hard work across generations.
Typical given names associated with the Allsup surname
Male
- David
- Dean
- James
- Jeremy
- John
- Jonathan
- Mark
- Richard
- Scott
- Stephen
- Thomas
Female
- Angela
- Anne
- Claire
- Denise
- Dianne
- Gwyneth
- Lisa
- Maureen
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Rachel
- Vanessa
- Zena
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 Allsup in...
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There are approximately 175 people named Allsup in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around three in a million people in Britain are named Allsup.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
