CRIPPS
The Cripps surname is of purely English origin and can be traced to the British Isles, particularly England where it has been recorded for well over nine centuries.
A number of scholarly sources identify the name as an occupational or descriptive nickname. One derivation comes from the Old English word crypel or cripel, meaning a person who is crippled or walks with a limp. This interpretation was popular in early medieval England, and the nickname was subsequently inherited as a hereditary family name. Subsequent research, however, records alternative origins that tie the name to the Old English pre‑7th Century word crisp or cryps, taken from the Latin crispus and the Old French crespe, both meaning "curly" or "curly‑haired". In some contexts the name has also been linked to the personal name Crisp, a diminutive of Crispinus, the patron saint of shoemakers and martyr at Soissons in about 285. These divergent explanations reflect the complexity of medieval onomastics and demonstrate that the surname was adaptable to many local naming practices.
The earliest recorded instance of the name appears in a 1030 entry described as Benedictus Crispus, dated during the reign of King Canute the Dane. Following this, a number of early documentary references illustrate the spread of the name across England: Henry le Cresp is mentioned in Early London Personal Names around 1200; Walter Crips is listed in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire; and a Richard Crysp appears in the 1275 Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire. During the same period the name developed a range of alternative spellings, including Crispe, Chrisp, Crips, Chrippes and Scripps, reflecting regional dialectal differences and orthographic variation.
In more recent history, a notable bearer of the surname was John Marten Cripps, who died in 1853. Educated at Cambridge, he travelled extensively over Europe and the Near East and is recorded in various accounts of his life. Over time the original literal meaning of the surname became largely symbolic, and the name has been passed down through generations as a family identifier rather than a descriptor of physical or occupational status.
Typical given names associated with the Cripps surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Ann
- Deborah
- Emma
- Julie
- Karen
- Margaret
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
- Cripe
- Cripes
- Cripp
- Chripps
- Crippe
- Crip
- Chrippes
- Crippo
- Crippa
- Carapezza
- Carpas
- Carpes
- Carps
- Carpus
- Chrippis
- Corpaci
- Corpas
- Corpes
- Corps
- Corpse
- Corpus
- Corpuz
- Crapps
- Craps
- Crepps
- Creps
- Crifs
- Crips
- Cripsey
- Croops
- Cropps
- Crops
- Grapci
- Grapes
- Grapsa
- Gripps
- Karpas
- Karpis
- Karpus
- Karpuz
- Korpas
- Korpus
- Kourpas
- Krapez
- Kreps
- Krieps
- Krip
- Kripp
- Kripps
- Krips
- Krops
- Kurpas
- Kurpias
- Kurpisz
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Cripps in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 5,184 people named Cripps in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,823rd most common surname in Britain. Around 80 in a million people in Britain are named Cripps.
Surname type: Occupational name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Cripps
- Stafford Cripps - Politician (1889 to 1952)
- Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor - Barrister and politician (1852 to 1941)
- Harry Cripps - Football player (1941 to 1995)
- Arthur Shearly Cripps - Anglican missionary, writer (1869 to 1952)
- John Cripps - Australian horticulturalist
- Marian Cripps, Baroness Parmoor - Brituish antiwar activist (1878 to 1952)
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.