Rupp
A short surname that is most often a German form of names like Rupert, ultimately meaning “bright fame.”
The #3,167 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,085 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rupp is generally understood as a shortened or reduced form of the German personal name Rupert, which comes from Old High German elements meaning “fame” and “bright” or “shining.” In older naming practice, such short forms often became hereditary surnames. Some 19th-century surname books also list spellings and related forms across Germanic languages, reflecting this reduced-name origin.
History
The surname appears in German-speaking areas and was carried by emigrants into North America and elsewhere. Historical surname dictionaries also connect it with variants such as Ruppaner, Ruppo, and Ruperts, showing how a single given-name base could generate several surnames. The name is still found especially in German-descended families and communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same name-family also lies behind the much more familiar given name Rupert, so Rupp is essentially a clipped surname cousin of that older forename.
From the historical record
“Wardrobe, Wardrop, Ward- roper, Waidropper, Ward- rupp. — Offic. * the wardrober/ or in local form * de la wardrobe ' ; the keeper of the wardrobe. O.F. warderobe, garderobe. The Book of Curtasye says : *The usshere shaUe bydde the ward-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)