This surname is of Anglo-Saxon locational origin, deriving from Middop, near Colne in West Yorkshire which was recorded as "Mithope" in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as "Midhop" in 1150 in the Yorkshire Charters. The placename is composed of the Olde English element "mid-", middle (replaced by the Old Scandinavian "mithr"), which is also found in the placenames Meathop, Midhope, Mythop and Midhurst, and the second element "hope", the Olde English word for valley or the Olde English "hop", a piece of enclosed land in the midst of fens. Yorkshire Church Registers include the following early recordings; the marriage of Agnes Middopp to Rogerus Nicholsonne on December 1st 1561 at Giggleswick, and the christening of Rob, son of Willi Myddrop, on February 8th 1562 also at Giggleswick. Hannah, daughter of Joseph and Hannah Middup, was christened at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London, on June 15th 1724. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Willi Myddopp, which was dated April 2nd 1559, a christening witness, at Giggleswick, Yorkshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.

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