Tripp
Usually a nickname surname, probably from a word meaning “to trip” or “skip,” though some early forms suggest it may also reflect a personal name.
The #1,753 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,109 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The most likely origin is as a nickname from Middle English trippen, meaning to trip, skip, or move lightly; related forms are found in Dutch and Scandinavian languages. One old explanation also connects it with Old Norse trippi, meaning a young colt, which fits the idea of liveliness or springing movement. Some early records and later surname analysis also point to an old personal name behind the surname in at least some families, so the history is not completely uniform.
History
The name is recorded in medieval English sources, especially in the east and southeast, and appears in early spellings such as Trip, Trippe, Trippet, and Tripper. Later writers proposed different explanations for particular families, including nickname-based and patronymic readings, so the surname may have multiple independent origins. It became a stable English surname well before modern spellings were fixed.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century source even tried to connect one Tripp family with the Howards, though that story was treated skeptically even then.
From the historical record
“EastNorf. Gloss. (1787). TRIPP (Teut.) a nickname f. the verb 'trip', M.E. trippen = Dut. trippen = Dan.-Norw. trippe, 'to trip', 'skip', etc. : cp. O.N. trippi, 'a young colt'. Gilbert Tn^.—Hund. Rolls: TRIPPER i”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)