Copeland
A place-based surname, usually from a hilltop or upland called Copeland/Coupland.
The #609 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,528 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Copeland is generally understood as a locational surname. It is usually connected with a place-name meaning “promontory land,” “summit land,” or more broadly “upland,” from old words for a hilltop or raised ground plus “land.” In English records the surname is often treated as a variant of Coupland, a Northumberland place-name, and some families may also have taken the name from Cumberland/Cumbria localities with the same or similar form.
History
The name appears in several spelling forms in English parish records, including Copeland, Copland, Coupland, Cowpland, and Cawpland. Nineteenth-century surname writers often linked it to Northumberland and northern English place-names, especially where local pronunciation blurred the vowel sounds. The surname later spread widely in Britain and then to North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books note that one family could be recorded under several different spellings in the same district, showing how fluid local spelling could be before modern standardization.
From the historical record
“[Cowper]. COPELAND. Copelton. 414. Copland. Copleton. 55, 89, Surnames, with Varieties arid Synonymes.”
— Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland