Luppitt

Recorded as Luppett, Luppitt, the dialectal Uppett, and the prejorative Lupiter, this is an English locational surname. It almost certainly originates from the village of Luppitt in the county of Devonshire, four miles north of the town of Honiton. The place name is first recorded as Lovapit in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which would seem to translate as "Leof's hollow" with Leof being an early personal name meaning love. However it also possible that it could mean "Lovers hollow", as through history there have been special places for lovers to visit. As to the apparently transposed spelling of Uppett, it has no meaning, nor is there any place called Uppett or anything like it. Locational surnames are "from" names, or names given to people after they left their original homes to move somewhere else. The further they moved the greater the change in dialect, and the more likely that the ultimate spelling would be different from the original. Somewhere along the way it would seem that Luppitt lost its "L," and exchanged an e for an i. This is not surprising given that until Victorian times from about 1840, few of the UK population had education, and most signed their name with a X. They were in no position to judge the spelling of their own surname as it appeared in registers. It is unclear when or where this surname in any form was first recorded, but James Lupitte was christened at St Dunstans Stepney, in the city of London, on September 6th 1713, whilst John Lupiter was christened at Holy Trinity, Gosport, Hampshire, on January 13th 1782.