This is a surname of post medieval French origins, which has never been fully anglicised, although the spelling over the years in England has varied considerably. Recorded in the spellings of Cannop, Cannup, Canape, Canepe, Kenope, and Cannape, it was probably introduced by the Huguenot refugees fleeing the persecution by the catholic kings of France, between the years 1580 and 1750. The name has nothing to do with food, in fact it describes an early couch or settle, and the surname is clearly a metonymic for the maker of such furniture. English furniture of the period was solid and uncomfortable, whilst French furniture was considered the height of luxury, as it was padded. In fact the Huguenots generally were skilled in their manufacture of textiles from fine woolens to silk, and they greatly improved the standards of the British manufacturers. Early examples of the surname recording taken from the authentic rolls and registers of the period in the London area include Elizabeth Cannope, who married Henry Clark at St Giles Cripplegate, on December 21st 1662, Ann Cannop, the daughter of Joseph Cannop, christened at St Botolphs without Aldgate, on June 29th 1731, and John Henry Canepe, christened at St John's church, Shoreditch, on November 26th 1865..

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