This interesting surname has three possible origins. Firstly, it may be a
metonymic occupational name for a cooper, deriving from the
Middle English "jubbe, jobbe", a vessel containing four gallons. This could also have been a metonymic
nickname for a heavy drinker or for a tubby person. Secondly, it may be a metonymic occupational name for a maker, or seller, or a nickname for a wearer, of the long woollen garment known in Middle English and
Old French as a jube or jupe. Finally, it may be a nickname for the Old French "job, joppe" meaning sorry wretch, fool (perhaps a transferred application of the name of the biblical character). The surname dates back to the mid 13th Century (see below). Early recordings include Eudo
le Jope (1290) in the
Subsidy Rolls of Surrey, Richard Joup (1327), and Richard Joop (1332) in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex. London Church Records list the marriage of Elizabeth Jupe to John Lypset on May 17th 1607 at St. Mary Abbots, Kensington, and the
christening of Hellen, daughter of Anthony Juppe on September 19th 1608 at St. Gregory by St. Paul. A
Coat of Arms granted to the family is
silver, a
chevron between three
blue eagles heads
erased. The
Crest is a griffin
passant proper holding a
gold buckle. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Joppe, which was dated 1255, in the "
Hundred Rolls of Wiltshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "
The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.