MOSSOP
The Mossop surname originates from England, with its roots lying in Old Norse and Anglo‑Saxon linguistic elements. The name is understood to be a locational identifier, denoting an individual who originally came from a place called Mossop, believed to have been situated in the county of Cumberland in Northern England.
In the earliest surviving records, the name is recorded as John Mosowppe, who witnessed the christening of his daughter in 1615 at Witton le Wear in Durham. This evidence confirms the existence of the surname during the reign of King James I of England and VI of Scotland (1603‑1625). Subsequent entries in church registers include the marriage of Margaret Mossop to Thomas Lynaker in Bidston, Cheshire, in 1634, and the union of George Mossop with Jane Deeves at St. Martin Pomeroy in London in 1643.
Scholars attribute the composition of Mossop to the Old Norse elements mos, meaning “peat bog”, and hop, meaning “enclosed valley” or “piece of land surrounded by reeds or fens”. Consequently, the literal interpretation of the name is “enclosed land in a swamp”. Alternatively, the derivation may stem from the place name Mosshope Fell in Dumfrieshire, although the strongest documentary evidence points to Northern England.
During the 12th to 15th centuries, numerous small villages and hamlets disappeared from the English landscape due to economic resettlement for sheep pastures and demographic losses from the Black Death. While the original settlement associated with the name Mossop is no longer extant, the surname has survived as a relatively uncommon identifier to the present day.
Typical given names associated with the Mossop surname
Male
- Andrew
- Anthony
- Christopher
- Daniel
- David
- George
- Ian
- James
- John
- Richard
- Robert
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Alison
- Amanda
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Julie
- Kj
- Margaret
- 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 Mossop in...
Braille
⠍⠕⠎⠎⠕⠏
Morse
-----......---.--.
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,007 people named Mossop in the UK. That makes it roughly the 7,342nd most common surname in Britain. Around 15 in a million people in Britain are named Mossop.
Famous people named Mossop
- Lee Mossop - Rugby league player
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.