Toup History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The name Toup was spawned by the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture that ruled a majority of Britain. It comes from the Old Danish personal name Topi. 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.

Early Origins of the Toup family

The surname Toup was first found in Somerset, where the first records of the name are Robert Top and William Toppe, bother recorded there 1 Edward III (during the first year of the reign of King Edward III.) 1

"The Dorset family of Topp probably belong to the ancient Wiltshire family of Topp, now extinct, that held the manor of Stockton in Wilts 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." 2

"The manor of Killenick [at Land's End, Cornwall] belonged, in the reign of Richard II. to John Longeland and Lankford. This manor has been dismembered ; and it was sold in the year 1720, under a decree of chancery, in its divided state. Bosvargus, which was formerly a seat belonging to a family of that name, was at one time inherited by the learned Jonathan Toup, rector of St. Martin's, near Looe." 3

Some of the family were found in Scotland as "Edward Top admitted [was] burgess of Aberdeen, 1486 is doubtless the Edward Top who was fined in 1497 for 'failzeit in the waching of the tone.'" 4

Early History of the Toup family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Toup research. Another 60 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1202, 1580 and 1639 are included under the topic Early Toup History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Toup Spelling Variations

Toup has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Many variations of the name Toup have been found, including Toop, Toope, Tooppe, Toopes, Toup, Toupe, Tupe, Toowp and many more.

Early Notables of the Toup family

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

Toup migration to the United States +

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Toups to arrive on North American shores:

Toup Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Michel Toup, who landed in New York in 1709 5

Toup migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Toup Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

James Toup, who settled in Ireland's Eye Newfoundland in 1810 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Toup (post 1700) +

Jonathan Oannes Toup (1713-1785), English philologist, classical scholar and critic who came from a family resident for several generations in Dorset

Citations +

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.
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. 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)
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)
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0