Hoppe
A surname that most likely began as a pet form of Hob, itself a short form of Robert, though some sources also connect it with an old word for a dancer.
The #3,841 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,505 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Hoppe is usually treated as a variant or continental form of names built on Hob, the medieval nickname for Robert. In English surname tradition, that makes it a pet-name surname rather than a direct occupational one. Some older dictionaries also note resemblance to Middle English and Anglo-Saxon words for a dancer or leaper, but that explanation is less certain and may reflect later association rather than the main origin.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries place Hoppe beside Hob, Hopper, Hobson, and related forms, suggesting it circulated as a nickname-based surname in both English and continental records. Barber notes German and Dutch forms such as Hoppe and Hoppen, showing that the spelling is also established in Germanic naming traditions. In English-speaking countries, many bearers likely descend from immigrant families or from older surname forms that were later standardized as Hoppe.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname books group Hoppe with Hobson and even gloss Hob as a kind of rustic clown, a reminder that medieval nicknames could be vivid as well as personal.
From the historical record
“HOPKINSON. See Robert. HOPPE. Probably the same as Hope, HOPPER. A-Sax. hoppere, a dancer. Le Hoppar, Le Hopper, Le Hoppere. H.R. HOPPING. Perhaps Hoppen, a town- ship in Northumberland, HOPPRINGLE. From the estate so called in the S. of Scotl. (Roxburghshire ?) The first syllable was dropped in the XVII. cent.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom