Arp
A short Germanic surname that likely began as a name linked to inheritance or an old personal name, though some early explanations are uncertain.
The #9,560 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,781 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually connected with the old Germanic root arb/arp, a word family associated with inheritance or heirship. Some 19th-century scholars linked it to Gothic and Old Norse words for “heir” or “inheritance,” while others treated it as a shortened old personal name. Because the evidence is old and partly speculative, the safest reading is that Arp arose from a Germanic name-root with the sense of inheritance or lineage.
History
Forms like Arp are found in northern and German-speaking areas, and related spellings appear in Scandinavian and continental surname collections. The name may also have developed independently in different regions from the same short Germanic root or from clipped baptismal names. In English records, it is uncommon and may reflect later immigration or adoption of continental forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century etymologist noted that the same root appears in several Germanic languages with the sense of “heir” or “inheritance.”
From the historical record
“SHARP l(Eng.) Quick, Smart [M.E. SHARPEJ scharpie, O.R sc{e)arp] I V. Sherrard, Sherratt.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)