Recorded in the spellings of Millichip, Millechip, Millership, Millichop, and several other forms, this interesting surname is of pre 8th century Anglo-Saxon origin. It derives from "Millichope", a locational name from a place so called in the county of Salop (Shropshire), and which was recorded as "Melicope" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Milinghope" in the 1199 Pipe Rolls of Shropshire. The placename is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century elements "mylen", a mill, and "hlinc", hill, with "hop", an enclosed valley; hence "a mill in a valley overlooked by a hill" or the reverse "a hill by a valley, with a windmill on top". During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often used their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the surname. The surname is first recorded in the late 12th Century (see below), while other early examples include Roger de Miligehop, mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Shropshire in 1255, and one Roger Millichap, whose marriage on June 13th 1555 was recorded in the first year that parish registers were kept for the parish of Munslow in Shropshire. Stephanus Mellichap married Elizabetham Davis on December 3rd 1663 at St. Martin in the Fields, London, while Mary Millichip married Thomas Davis on March 1st 1745 at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Millinghope, which was dated 1199, in the "Pipe Rolls of Shropshire", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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