This most interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is locational from Kippax, a place in Yorkshire which appeared as "Chipesch" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Kippeys" in the Yorkshire Charters, circa 1155. The placename itself is composed of the initial element "Cyppa", a personal name related to "Cuppa", and has as a second element, the Olde English pre 7th Century word "aesc", ash-tree, which was partly Scandinavianized to "-ask" (hence, "-ax"). Locational surnames were developed when ormer inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The surname first appears in the late 14th Century (see below), and other early recordings include: Johannes de Kypax, Johanna Kepas, and Johannes de Kepax, who were all recorded in the Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire in 1379. Recordings from English Church Registers include: the marriage of Henry Kippaxe and Elizabeth Harrison at St. Martin's, Coney Street, York, on January 13th 1621; and the christenings of John, Edward and Margarett, children of Edward and Isabell Kippax, on July 18th 1630, July 28th 1632, and November 2nd 1634, respectively, at St. Olave', Hart Street, London. The name is found as Kypax and Kypas in the county of Lancashire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Kypas, which was dated 1379, in the "Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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