Harp
A surname usually taken from a house or inn sign reading “the Harp,” though it may also overlap with harp-player surnames.
The #2,638 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,625 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English records, Harp is most often explained as a local or sign-name surname, meaning someone who lived or worked “at the Harp” rather than a direct reference to the instrument itself. The word behind the sign is the common English noun harp, from Old English and ultimately Germanic and Celtic musical terms. In some cases, it may be connected with the same naming pattern as Harper, but the surname Harp is usually treated as shorter and more specifically sign-based.
History
Bardsley notes that Harp was found more readily in America than in England, which fits the way short surnames often survive in emigration and later records. Medieval forms such as atte Harpe show the classic English habit of turning inn or house signs into surnames. The name is relatively uncommon today compared with Harper and related forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers sometimes grouped Harp with Harper, but Bardsley specifically treated Harp as a sign-name, “at the Harp.”
From the historical record
“kind of fiddle) ; O.H.Ger. h)rota, a rote ; app. of Celt, orig.; cp. Wei. crwth, a fiddle = Gael, and Ir. cruit, a harp, 0.1r. crot, a harp] John le Rotour. — Sgtns. Subsidy-Soil, A.D. 1327.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)