The Thorpe surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 21,813 people carried this name — #1,651 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 13,500 people counted. That is up 4% from 20,960 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Thorpe surname

A common habitational surname from Old English.

Various places in England, from Old English þorp.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Thorpe» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘at the thorp’ — the first of the origins he gives.

An early record he cites: Adam de la Throppe, Wiltshire, 1272 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Thorp, Thorpe, Thripp, Thrupp, Throop and Throup.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 747 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 6 births for the Thorpe name in 1890.

Most were registered in Leinster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 300 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. One of them was indexed under another spelling of the name.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born, 1890

Leinster 4
Ulster 2

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 27 people named Thorpe.

Most of them — 21 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 3 départements, most often Paris.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 21
Paris 3
Oise 2
Charente-Maritime 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In the Nordic population registers

37 people named Thorpe is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 37

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Thorpe was found among the farmers of 8 counties.

It was most frequent in Derbyshire: 44 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 227. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent. His list gives one count for the spellings Thorp and Thorpe.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Derbyshire 44
Leicestershire and Rutland 17
Kent 15
Yorkshire, West Riding 13
Hampshire 12
Lincolnshire 12
Norfolk 11
Cheshire 9

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Thorpe was recorded 18 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1248th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 16. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Thorpe in American newspapers,
1883–1908.

Newspaper page from The Western News carrying the name Thorpe
The Western News 1908-07-01
Newspaper page from St. Landry Democrat carrying the name Thorpe
St. Landry Democrat 1883-05-05
Newspaper page from The Louisiana Democrat carrying the name Thorpe
The Louisiana Democrat 1885-07-18

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 4,262 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Thorpe in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

58,403 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Thorpe. The most, 11,745, date from the 1930s.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 18,456
Queensland 13,471
Victoria 9,268
South Australia 8,225
Tasmania 3,924
Western Australia 3,744
ACT (Canberra) 1,133
Northern Territory 36

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Thorpe.

Who carried it

People named Thorpe,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Jim Thorpe
    Jim Thorpe d. 1953 · screenwriter
  • Thomas Thorpe d. 1461 · judge
  • William de Thorpe d. 1361 · judge
  • Anita Thorpe d. 2022 · politician
  • Robert Thorpe d. 1591 · politician
  • George Thorpe d. 1622 · politician

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Thorpe,
in the records of 7 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States2,346 records

2,346 records of the Thorpe name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 637
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 495
  • Other U.S. records 1,214
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Ernest K. Thorpe

    Born 1925 in Maine. Enlisted 1945 at Portland; driver from Cumberland County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at Murch Cemetery, Casco, Maine.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Thorpe

    Arrived at New York in 1890 aboard the City of Chester from Liverpool, aged 20; servant. From Cork, Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Richard Bertram Thorpe

    Born 1931; from Pasadena, California. U.S. Navy, hospital corpsman; died of wounds 1953 in Korea.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 2,346 records for Thorpe in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Australia1,797 records

1,797 records of the Thorpe name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 782
  • Tasmanian Names Index 421
  • Other Australian records 594
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Peter Thorpe

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Tortoise, sailing from Plymouth in 1841. Native of London, Middlesex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1847. Married 1847 in Richmond, Tasmania, aged 21.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Henry Thorpe

    Died 1928 in Launceston, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1928.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Marion Ellen Thorpe

    Born 1869 in Westbury, Tasmania. Died 1899 in Westbury, Tasmania, aged 29.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,797 records for Thorpe in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada371 records

371 records of the Thorpe name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 275
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 21
  • Other Canadian records 75
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record William Whittaker Thorpe

    Died 1950, aged 67; buried at St. Vital Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Lillian Agnes Thorpe

    Buried in 1991 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 92.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Robert Thorpe

    Died 1916 in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 371 records for Thorpe in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom114 records

114 records of the Thorpe name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 87
  • Stirling Council burial records 13
  • Other British records 14
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Mary Thorpe

    Buried in 1900 at Strathblane Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 73.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Elizabeth Thorpe

    Will proved in 1939; of Llandudno, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record G. T. Thorpe

    Hampshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 114 records for Thorpe in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand24 records

24 records of the Thorpe name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 21
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 2
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James Thorpe

    Died 1940, aged 60; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Frederick Thomas Thorpe

    Died 1995, aged 70; buried at Whangamata Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record W. Thorpe

    New Zealand Infantry. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 24 records for Thorpe in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0).

France7 records

7 records of the Thorpe name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Francis William Thorpe

    Born 1948 in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Paris); died 1974 in Créteil (Val-de-Marne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Margaret Beatrice Thorpe

    Born 1906 in Great Britain; died 1999 in Valailles (Eure).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Kevin Thorpe

    Born 1927 in Great Britain; died 2000 in Carnac (Morbihan).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 3 of 7 records for Thorpe in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Netherlands6 records

6 records of the Thorpe name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 4
  • Dutch population registers 2
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Thomas Henry Thorpe

    Married in 1945 in Nijmegen; electrician.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Elizabeth Amelia Thorpe

    Married in 1902 in Southampton, England.

    Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 6 records for Thorpe in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Thorpe.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Thorpe.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Thorpe is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Thorpe volume
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