Tapp
A short surname with several likely roots, most often linked to an Old English personal name or a nickname for someone near a gap or opening.
The #5,619 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 49,910 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical surname dictionaries give Tapp several possible explanations. One common view connects it with the Old English personal name Tappa, while another treats it as a short form of longer Tap- surnames. Some writers also suggest a local or topographic sense, with Tapp related to a word for a gap, opening, or pass; in that reading, it would have described where someone lived rather than what they did.
History
The name appears in medieval English records, and later dictionaries also note North-country and especially Scottish use. Related forms such as Tappin, Tapping, Tapper, and Tapley helped preserve the same root in expanded or altered shapes. Because the surname is brief and widely adaptable, it probably arose independently in more than one place and from more than one source.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley and Harrison both treat Tapp as a surname with more than one possible origin, which is one reason it can be tricky to pin down to a single family line.
From the historical record
“TAPLING = Taplin with intrus. -g. TAPP (Eng.) I the A.-Sax. pers. name Tappa : V. under Tapley. 2 an abbrev. of one of the Tap- names. 3 a North, (esp. Scot.) form of Topp,q.v. TAPPENDEN (Eng.) Bel. to Tappenden or Toppenderi (Kent), anc. Tappendene, A.-Sax. *T(eppan-denu=TMPPA's Valley”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)