ALSOP
Alsop is an English surname of locational origin, typically associated with the Derbyshire region of the Midlands. The name is derived from the place name Alsop‑en‑le‑Dale, a chapelry in the parish of Ashborne, whose early forms appear in both the Domesday Book of 1086 and the 1241 Registrum Antiquissimum of Derbyshire.
The etymology of the name is best explained by reference to Old English. The element hop, a small enclosed valley or pasture, is common in place‑names, and the element that follows has been analysed as either eald, meaning “old”, or as the personal name Aelle of pre‑7th‑century origin. Consequently the name has been interpreted as “dweller in the old valley”, “person from Aelle’s hop”, or, in some traditions, as a wooded valley full of alder trees, from als “alder tree” plus hop. The precise derivation remains uncertain, but all versions agree that the name is a description of a geographic feature linked to a particular settlement.
Documentary evidence for the surname stretches back more than nine centuries. The earliest surviving record in England is that of Gamel de Haleshoppe in the Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire in 1175, during the reign of Henry XI. Subsequent medieval references include William Alsape (Cambridgeshire, 1273) and Philip Alsope (Cambridgeshire, 1279), showing that variations of the name were already in common use by the late 13th century. In 1538 a Thomas Alsop, described as a gentleman poticary, appears in the “Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary,” indicating that the name had spread beyond its original locality by the Tudor period.
Locational surnames such as Alsop were typically adopted by local landowners, often the lord of the manor, and served as a means of identifying people who had left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. This practice underlines the importance of the name as a marker of land tenure and social status in medieval England.
The family of Alsop in Derbyshire was granted a coat of arms, described heraldically as a black shield with three silver doves in a rising position, each with red legs and beaks. The crest consists of a gold dove, wings expanded, beaked and legged red, clutching an ear of wheat in its beak. These distinguishing heraldic symbols, recorded in the heraldic rolls of the period, further emphasise the antiquity and prominence of the family within the Derbyshire gentry.
In modern times the surname remains most common throughout the Midlands, particularly in the counties of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and Derbyshire itself. It has also found significant representation in the rest of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the United States, in a variety of states including Washington D.C., Massachusetts, Virginia, Texas, California and New York. The surname continues to be recognised as a distinctly English or Anglo‑Saxon name, and its spread overseas reflects the broader patterns of British emigration during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Multiple spelling variants have been historically recognised, including Allsop, Allsopp, Allsup, Allsep, Elsip, Elsop, Allsopp, and Olsopp. The variations have arisen over time due to regional pronunciation and orthographic practices, rather than through deliberate alteration. While some writers speculate on connections to surnames such as Alesopp or the German Altshop, these relationships remain anecdotal and are not substantiated by primary records.
Typical given names associated with the Alsop surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Peter
- Richard
- Stephen
Female
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Georgia
- Helen
- Jennifer
- Julie
- Karen
- 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 Alsop in...
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There are approximately 1,925 people named Alsop in the UK. That makes it roughly the 4,349th most common surname in Britain. Around 30 in a million people in Britain are named Alsop.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Alsop
- Will Alsop - Architect (1947 to 2018)
- Julian Alsop - Football player
- Tom Alsop - Cricketer
- Gilbert Alsop - Football player (1908 to 1992)
- Ian Alsop - Scottish racing cyclist
- Fred Alsop - Triple and long jumper
- William Jonathan "Jonty" Alsop - Boxer (1901 to 1964)
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.