Tepper
Usually a variant of Tipper, probably referring to someone who tipped or capped drinking vessels with metal.
The #9,515 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,382 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical surname dictionaries treat Tepper as a variant of Tipper. In that reading, it comes from an occupational nickname for a worker who “tipped” or mounted the metal fittings on cups, mazers, drinking horns, or similar vessels. Some older sources also note a Germanic-looking form behind the name, but the English occupational explanation is the one most directly supported for this spelling.
History
British surname dictionaries record Tepper as a spelling alongside Tipper, and the name is best understood as one of several medieval craft surnames that later settled into fixed family names. It is comparatively uncommon in modern usage, but it survives in English-speaking countries and may also reflect independent continental spellings in some cases.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname writers linked this family name to the trade of fitting metal tips onto drinking vessels—an evocative reminder of how many surnames began as practical job descriptions.
From the historical record
“Rolls. TEPPER for Tipper, q.v. TEPPETT, an unvoiced form of Tebbett, q.v. TERENCE (Ir.-and Fr.-Lat.) the Lat. Teren- tius [prob. f. Terentum, the place in the Campus Martins where the secular sports were held] The Irish sometimes use Terence for their native Tiirlough {Toirdhealbhach).”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)