Northrup
A surname from a northern place name, likely meaning someone from the north farm or village.
The #6,057 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 54,520 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Northrup is an English locational surname. The historical forms point to a place-name built from Old English north, meaning “north,” and a second element meaning “farm,” “enclosure,” or “village” in the broad sense. In later surname use, the ending was often simplified or altered in spelling, giving forms like Northup and Northrup.
History
The surname appears in English and later American records in several spellings, including Northup and Northrup. Nineteenth-century surname writers treated it as a variant of Northop/ Northup, tied to a northern settlement-name rather than to a descriptive nickname. In the United States, the spelling Northrup became established in some family lines, alongside the more common Northup.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Reference works from the 19th century explicitly cross-referenced Northrup with Northup, showing how fluid surname spelling could be before standardization.
From the historical record
“of the R. Yeo. NORTHRUP } ^°'''°^ °^ Northopp(e, q.v. NORTON (Eng.) Bel. to Norton = the North Farm, Estate, or VilIage , [A.-Sax. Nor)^tm^^nor§ + tAn] NORWELL (Eng.) Dweller at the North Well or Spring [O.Ei ndr^ + wieU(a] NORWICH (Eng.) Bel.. to Norwich, theA.-Sax.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)