Cupis Family History
The English surname Cupis is of Local or Habitation origin, being one of those names which are derived from the place name where the original bearer once lived or held land. In this instance the surname Cupis is derived from the place of Kippax, a place name in the West Riding of Yorkshire, originally Cupiss or Cuppage. It became a parish in 1539 with a recorded population of 1,901 six-and-a-half miles north-west of Pontefract comparable with townships of Allerton, Bywater, Great and Little Preston, in the archdeaconry and diocese of York. Kippax is recorded as Chipesh in the Domesday Book of 1086, Kippeys in the 1155-8 Yorkshire Charters, Kipais in the 1190 Pipe Rolls for this area, Kypask in the Assize Rolls for 1293. The first element of this surname may be a person named Cyppa, related to Cuppa. Kippax has as a second element the Old English word "aesc" meaning "ash-tree", partly Scandinavianized to "ask", hence "ax". One Alan de Kipais is recorded in the 1190 Pipe Rolls for Yorkshire and one Richard de Kippax is listed in the Assize Rolls for 1347. One John Kypas appears in the 1441 document "The Calverly Charters" for York.
Throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the use of hereditary surnames became common at roughly the same time, from the twelve century onwards. These names have developed and altered slowly over the centuries, down to the present day. The common form of hereditary surnaming is that of the Patronymic origin, deriving from the personal name given to the father or an ancestor of an original bearer of a particular surname. In addition to this, a person may also have been given a Local name, being one of those surnames which are derived from the name of the place from whence the original bearer of a particular surname hailed.
- Blazon of Arms: Argent a fesse between three garbs gules
- Crest: A dial argent
- Origin: England