Crop

This interesting surname is of medieval English origin, and is a metonymic occupational name for a picker of fruit or vegetables, or a reaper of corn. The derivation of the name is from the Middle English "crop(en)", to pick, pluck, a derivative of "crop", produce, from the Olde English pre 7th Century "cropp", swelling, head of plant. The word was used also of the polling of cattle, and the name may therefore have been given to someone who did this. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Crop, Cropp, Krop and Kropp. Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the marriage of Richard Cropp and Margerie Alerlon on January 23rd 1557, at Ormskirk, Lancashire; the marriage of George Cropp and Agnes Thomson at the same place on February 5th 1559; and the christening of Phillip, son of Thomas Crop, on May 17th 1583, at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is a blue shield, and on a green mount in base a silver pigeon. In Heraldry, blue signifies Loyalty and Truth, green symbolises Hope, Joy, and sometimes, Loyalty in Love, and silver denotes Peace and Sincerity. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Agnez Cropp, which was dated January 22nd 1552, marriage to Alexandr Ouldam, at Middleton by Oldham, Lancashire, during the reign of King Edward V1, known as "The Boy King", 1547 - 1553. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.