Toppe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The ancient Anglo-Saxon surname Toppe came from the Old Norse name Toppr. 1 Many Scandinavian personal names were left in the British Isles as a legacy of the Viking raids which plagued the coastal regions of Britain from the 8th to 10th centuries, and many of these eventually became Anglo-Saxon surnames.

Alternatively, some researchers believe the name to denote "An elevated spot known in some dialects as a top, and is used antithetically to bottom. Residence on such a spot would originate the surname." 2 3 4

Early Origins of the Toppe family

The surname Toppe was first found in Gloucestershire where Robert Toppe was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1196. A few years later, in Lincolnshire, Herueius filius Toppe was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of 1200 and Roger Top was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1208 in Norfolk. 1

It was the branch in Wiltshire that later rose to prominence and hold that position for centuries. "The Dorset family of Topp probably belong to the ancient Wiltshire family of Topp, now extinct, that held the manor of Stockton in Wiltshire from before the Reformation until the close of last century, when it passed by marriage into the possession of Robert Balch, Esq., of St. Audries, Somerset." 5 Interestingly, the Register of the University of Oxford included Henry Topp, Dorset, 1600-1607 and John Toppe, Wiltshire, 1612. Parish records in Stourton, Wiltshire include two baptismal records: John Tooppe, 1580 and David, son of Robert Toope, 1639. 3

In Somerset, we found Robert Top and William Toppe, 1 Edward III (during the first year of the reign of King Edward III.) 6

Moving north to Scotland, we found "Edward Top admitted burgess of Aberdeen, 1486 is doubtless the Edward Top who was fined in 1497 for 'failzeit in the waching of the tone'. " 7

Early History of the Toppe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Toppe research. Another 73 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1669, 1844, 1850, 1858, 1902 and 1916 are included under the topic Early Toppe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Toppe Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Toppe family name include Topp, Top, Toppe and others.

Early Notables of the Toppe family

Notables of the family at this time include Arthur Maning Topp (1844-1916), an Australian journalist who helped to establish the Melbourne Review. Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, he was the eldest son of the...
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Toppe Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Toppe family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Toppe surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Silvester Tope settled in St. John's Newfoundland in 1752; James Toup settled in Ireland's Eye Newfoundland in 1810; Joanna Toop settled in Jamaica in 1731..

Contemporary Notables of the name Toppe (post 1700) +

Torgeir Toppe, Norwegian sprint canoer
Steffen Ingebriktsen Toppe (1902-1979), Norwegian politician for the Labour Party
Kjersti Toppe (b. 1967), Norwegian politician
Tantia Toppe, Indian soldier

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)