Lipscomb
A surname that is usually local in origin, probably meaning someone from a place called Lipscomb or Liscombe.
The #2,788 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,845 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This name is generally taken as a locational surname, from a lost or hard-to-identify place-name recorded in forms such as Lipscomb, Liscombe, and similar spellings. The second element is likely the Old English word for a valley or combe, while the first element is uncertain and may reflect an old personal name or a descriptive term. Nineteenth-century writers also suggested connection with Liscombe in Buckinghamshire, though they were not fully certain.
History
The surname is documented in England by the 17th century and appears in Buckinghamshire and surrounding counties in the historical records cited by early surname scholars. Later spellings often vary between Lipscomb and Lipscombe, and the name was carried to North America with English migration. Because the place-origin is not securely pinned down, the surname remains one of those local names whose exact source place is still debated.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname scholars explicitly noted that they could not identify the exact spot behind the name, which is why Lipscomb has remained a slightly mysterious local surname.
From the historical record
“Iilpscomb, Iiipacombe, Idpa- ooumb. — Local, * of Lipscomb.' I cannot find the spoL Possibly a variant of Liscombe, a hamlet in the parish otSoulbury, co. Bucks. 1671. William Lipicoinb and Ptbdch”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances