Contents [hide]

Jepson History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Jepson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Wales
Ireland

The Jepson surname is a patronymic name that comes from the personal names Geoffrey and Godfrey. These names appear in Old English as Geffrey and in Old French as Jefroi or Jeufroi. The surname Jepson makes use of the patronymic suffix -son, which had superseded all other such suffixes in popularity by the 14th century, and was most common in the north of Britain. This suffix was sometimes abbreviated to -s.

Early Origins of the Jepson family

The surname Jepson was first found in Staffordshire where Robert Geffreysone was listed in the Assize Rolls for 1344. In Yorkshire, we found Alice Geffrason there in 1488 and John Jeffrason was listed as a Freeman of York in 1528. 1

Early History of the Jepson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Jepson research. Another 118 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1691, 1720, 1797 and 1821 are included under the topic Early Jepson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jepson Spelling Variations

The Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. It was up to the priest or the scribe taking the official records to determine how the spoken name was to be made literal. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual's design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one's name. The spelling variations of the name Jepson have included Jeffers, Jefferson, Jeffson, Jephson and others.

Early Notables of the Jepson family

More information is included under the topic Early Jepson Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jepson Ranking

In the United States, the name Jepson is the 8,376^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Jepson family to Ireland

Some of the Jepson family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 53 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jepson migration to the United States +

North America in the 1800s and 1900s saw the arrival of many Welsh people hoping to share in the wealth of land, work, and freedom that they felt North America held. Those who made the journey often attained those expectations, but only through an enormous amount of hard work, perseverance, and often a bout of good luck. These immigrants helped contribute to the growth of industry, commerce, and culture of both Canada and the United States. Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Jepson:

Jepson Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Edmund Jepson, who landed in America in 1620 3
Henry Jepson, who landed in America in 1620 3
William Jepson, who landed in America in 1620 3
John Jepson, who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1647 3

Jepson Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

H Jepson, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 3

Jepson migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Jepson Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Thomas Jepson, English convict from Middlesex, who was transported aboard the "Arab" on February 22, 1834, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 4
Mr. William Jepson, English convict who was convicted in Lancaster, Lancashire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Aurora" on 18th June 1835, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
John Jepson, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Cromwell" in 1849 6

Jepson migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Jepson Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

E Jepson, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Norman Morrison" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand, Via Wellington and Lyttleton in 1854 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Jepson (post 1700) +

Molly Jepson, American actress
Kristine Jepson (1963-2017), American mezzo-soprano
Steven B. Jepson, American opera singer
Kristine Jepson, American mezzo-soprano
Benjamin Jepson (1832-1914), one of the first primary school music teachers in the United States
Herbert Jepson, American artist and designer
Brian Jepson, American voice actor
Helen Jepson (1904-1997), American lyric soprano
Willis Linn Jepson (1867-1946), known as California's most distinguished early botanist
James Jepson, American politician, Candidate for U.S. Senator from Nevada, 1920 8
... (Another 17 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Jepson Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: A cruce salus
Motto Translation: Salvation from the cross.

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2015, January 8) Arab voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1834 with 230 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/arab/1834
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) CROMWELL 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Cromwell.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html