NameCensus.

UK surname

Roper

An occupational surname referring to a person who makes or sells ropes.

In the 1881 census there were 6,236 people recorded with the Roper surname, ranking it #695 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 7,622, ranked #877, down from #695 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard and Nottingham St Mary. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Barnsley, West Dorset and Northumberland.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Roper is 8,261 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 22.2%.

1881 census count

6,236

Ranked #695

Modern count

7,622

2016, ranked #877

Peak year

1999

8,261 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Roper had 6,236 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #695 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 7,622 in 2016, ranked #877.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 7,964 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Roper surname distribution map

The map shows where the Roper surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Roper surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Roper over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 3,966 #718
1861 historical 4,028 #692
1881 historical 6,236 #695
1891 historical 6,071 #763
1901 historical 7,123 #774
1911 historical 7,964 #639
1997 modern 7,964 #809
1998 modern 8,213 #812
1999 modern 8,261 #815
2000 modern 8,160 #820
2001 modern 7,979 #818
2002 modern 8,124 #819
2003 modern 7,847 #830
2004 modern 7,790 #834
2005 modern 7,641 #845
2006 modern 7,603 #847
2007 modern 7,623 #855
2008 modern 7,659 #855
2009 modern 7,830 #859
2010 modern 7,942 #868
2011 modern 7,807 #868
2012 modern 7,609 #871
2013 modern 7,722 #874
2014 modern 7,771 #874
2015 modern 7,622 #883
2016 modern 7,622 #877

Geography

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Where Ropers are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard, Nottingham St Mary and Bradford. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Barnsley, West Dorset, Northumberland, Sedgemoor and Weymouth and Portland. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 London parishes London 1
2 London parishes London 3
3 Lenton, Radford, Papplewick, Nuthall, Greasley, Brewhouse Yard Nottinghamshire
4 Nottingham St Mary Nottinghamshire
5 Bradford Yorkshire, West Riding

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Barnsley 014 Barnsley
2 West Dorset 012 West Dorset
3 Northumberland 005 Northumberland
4 Sedgemoor 003 Sedgemoor
5 Weymouth and Portland 004 Weymouth and Portland

Forenames

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First names often paired with Roper

These lists show first names that appear often with the Roper surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Roper

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Roper, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities

Group

Rural Amenity

Nationally, the Roper surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Roper household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

This Group comprises older parents or retirees, with no resident dependent children, and with the lowest residential densities in this Supergroup. Predominantly UK-born, residents typically live in detached houses, although others do live in semi-detached and terraced properties. The level of multiple car ownership is the highest in this Supergroup. Most houses are owner occupied although social renting is also present. Many concentrations occur in high amenity rural locations, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Wider pattern

Pervasive throughout the UK, members of this Supergroup typically own (or are buying) their detached, semi-detached or terraced homes. They are also typically educated to A Level/Highers or degree level and work in skilled or professional occupations. Typically born in the UK, some families have children, although the median adult age is above 45 and some property has become under-occupied after children have left home. This Supergroup is pervasive not only in suburban locations, but also in neighbourhoods at or beyond the edge of cities that adjoin rural parts of the country.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Roper is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Roper is most concentrated in decile 7 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

7
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Roper falls in decile 6 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

6
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Roper is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Roper, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Roper

The surname Roper has its origins in the Old English pre-7th century word 'rap' or 'rap-ere', meaning a rope maker or rope seller. It is an occupational surname, denoting the profession and trade of the earliest bearers of the name.

Roper is an English surname that first appeared in records dating back to the 12th century. One of the earliest known references is from the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1176, where it is recorded as 'Radulfus le Roper'. The surname is also found in various other medieval records such as the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1279, listing a 'Walter le Roper'.

The Domesday Book of 1086 does not appear to contain any direct references to the Roper surname, although it does mention individuals with occupations related to rope-making, such as 'cordarius' or 'cordwainer'. This suggests that the surname likely emerged from these earlier occupational titles.

In the 13th century, the Roper family held lands in the county of Kent, England. One notable figure from this time was Richard Roper (c.1235-c.1295), a wealthy landowner and benefactor of religious orders in Kent.

The earliest known record of the Roper surname in its modern spelling dates back to 1327, when a John Roper is mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire.

Notable historical figures with the Roper surname include:

1. Sir John Roper (c.1493-1524), an English nobleman and courtier during the reign of Henry VIII. 2. Margaret Roper (1505-1544), the daughter of Sir Thomas More, and a noted scholar and humanist. 3. Abel Roper (c.1665-1726), an English writer and biographer who authored "The Life of Mrs. Catherine Philips, The Celebrated Venetian Lady". 4. Trevor Roper (1914-2003), a renowned British historian and author, best known for his work on the last days of Adolf Hitler. 5. Jonathan Roper (1701-1754), an American colonial merchant and politician from Massachusetts.

The Roper surname has also been associated with various place names throughout England, such as Roper's Gate in Norfolk, Roper's Close in Gloucestershire, and Roper's Farm in Hampshire, further reflecting its occupational origins.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Roper families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Roper surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Yorkshire leads with 886 Ropers recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.47x.

County Total Index
Yorkshire 886 1.47x
Lancashire 637 0.88x
Middlesex 563 0.93x
Suffolk 382 5.16x
Staffordshire 265 1.29x
Derbyshire 257 2.70x
Norfolk 239 2.56x
Surrey 218 0.74x
Nottinghamshire 217 2.65x
Dorset 209 5.24x
Devon 182 1.44x
Essex 158 1.32x
Warwickshire 158 1.03x
Kent 156 0.75x
Worcestershire 155 1.95x
Durham 154 0.85x
Somerset 149 1.52x
Cumberland 119 2.27x
Leicestershire 106 1.57x
Glamorgan 102 0.96x
Hampshire 101 0.81x
Cheshire 97 0.72x
Gloucestershire 89 0.75x
Northumberland 78 0.86x
Monmouthshire 62 1.41x
Lincolnshire 53 0.55x
Sussex 51 0.50x
Shropshire 48 0.91x
Cambridgeshire 44 1.14x
Northamptonshire 38 0.66x
Midlothian 27 0.33x
Herefordshire 25 1.00x
Oxfordshire 23 0.61x
Flintshire 20 1.22x
Wiltshire 20 0.37x
Hertfordshire 19 0.45x
Berkshire 16 0.35x
Lanarkshire 15 0.08x
Buckinghamshire 13 0.35x
Ayrshire 11 0.24x
Channel Islands 9 0.50x
Bedfordshire 8 0.25x
Westmorland 8 0.60x
Brecknockshire 7 0.58x
Rutland 6 1.34x
Stirlingshire 6 0.27x
Denbighshire 5 0.22x
Montgomeryshire 5 0.36x
Caernarfonshire 3 0.12x
Kincardineshire 3 0.41x
Royal Navy 3 0.41x
Huntingdonshire 2 0.17x
Radnorshire 2 0.41x
Renfrewshire 2 0.04x
Fife 1 0.03x
Pembrokeshire 1 0.05x
Roxburghshire 1 0.09x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Aston in Warwickshire leads with 73 Ropers recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.73x.

Place Total Index
Aston 73 1.73x
Nottingham St Mary 59 2.78x
Birmingham 57 1.12x
Leeds 57 1.68x
Bradford 50 3.43x
Sheffield 50 2.61x
Halifax 49 5.54x
Chesterfield 48 13.45x
Bow London 46 5.94x
Ipswich St Mathew 45 21.68x
Portsea 45 1.84x
Horton In Bradford 44 4.68x
Lambeth 41 0.77x
Manningham 40 5.39x
Kimberworth 37 11.06x
Walsall Foreign 36 3.40x
Islington London 35 0.59x
St George Hanover 35 4.41x
Camberwell 34 0.88x
Salford 34 1.60x
Ipswich St Peter 33 33.10x
St Pancras London 33 0.67x
Manchester 32 0.99x
St Marylebone London 32 0.99x
Dudley 31 3.21x
Toxteth Park 31 1.27x
East Allington 30 274.98x
Kensington London 30 0.89x
Wigan 30 2.98x
Bethnal Green London 29 1.10x
Bilston 28 7.04x
Croydon 27 1.64x
Newington 27 1.20x
Wedmore 27 42.39x
Barrow In Furness 26 2.65x
Broseley 26 27.85x
Battersea 25 1.12x
Bury St Edmunds St James 25 12.64x
Ecclesall Bierlow 25 2.04x
Standish With Langtree 25 28.13x
Great Finborough 24 279.72x
Mile End Old Town 24 2.50x
Tipton 24 3.82x
Bromley London 23 1.72x
Buckfastleigh 23 39.38x
Chelmsford 23 11.17x
Cradley 23 32.02x
Heigham 23 4.58x
Sedgley 23 3.02x
West Bromwich 23 1.96x
Worstead 23 143.48x
Haigh 22 87.48x
Northowram 22 5.21x
Alverstoke 21 4.65x
Berwick Upon Tweed 21 10.95x
Weymouth 21 27.78x
Wolverhampton 21 1.33x
Bedlington 20 6.62x
Erith 20 9.78x
Haworth 20 13.96x
Hornsey 20 2.60x
Lenton 20 10.36x
Clerkenwell London 19 1.32x
Derby St Werburgh 19 3.46x
Fulham London 19 2.15x
Keighley 19 2.96x
Long Eaton 19 15.12x
Paddington London 19 0.85x
Stockton On Tees 19 2.18x
Allerton 18 23.43x
Bingley 18 4.69x
Hathern 18 65.91x
Liverpool 18 0.41x
Blandford Forum 17 21.59x
Bowling 17 2.85x
Deptford St Paul 17 1.06x
Lewisham 17 1.54x
Skegby 17 33.86x
Ystradyfodwg 17 1.83x
Horsley 16 27.93x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Roper surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 405
Sarah 233
Elizabeth 215
Jane 120
Ann 118
Alice 116
Ellen 105
Emma 100
Annie 98
Eliza 97
Hannah 64
Emily 58
Margaret 58
Martha 53
Harriet 52
Louisa 42
Edith 40
Florence 40
Maria 36
Ada 35
Charlotte 31
Fanny 31
Kate 30
Caroline 29
Catherine 29
Lucy 24
Anne 22
Susan 21
Agnes 19
Clara 19
Isabella 19
Eleanor 17
Esther 17
Jessie 17
Minnie 17
Amelia 16
Amy 16
Anna 16
Frances 16
Susannah 16
Rebecca 15
Rose 15
Lydia 14
Gertrude 13
Laura 13
Grace 12
Maud 12
Selina 12
Betsy 11
Matilda 11

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Roper surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
William 380
John 343
George 215
Thomas 185
James 172
Henry 130
Charles 128
Joseph 100
Robert 97
Edward 59
Samuel 58
Alfred 57
Frederick 57
Arthur 54
Richard 52
Albert 45
Harry 45
Walter 41
Ernest 34
Francis 31
Herbert 30
David 28
Frank 28
Wm. 21
Benjamin 19
Edwin 19
Isaac 15
Thos. 15
Fred 14
Timothy 13
Geo. 11
Daniel 9
Edmund 8
Fredrick 8
Abraham 7
Frederic 7
Jas. 7
Peter 7
Sam 7
Sidney 7
Tom 7
Edgar 6
Fredk. 6
Luke 6
Mark 6
Willie 6
Andrew 5
Jesse 5
Job 5
Jonathan 5

FAQ

Roper surname: questions and answers

How common was the Roper surname in 1881?

In 1881, 6,236 people were recorded with the Roper surname. That placed it at #695 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Roper surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 7,622 in 2016. That gives Roper a modern rank of #877.

What does the Roper surname mean?

An occupational surname referring to a person who makes or sells ropes.

What does the Roper map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Roper bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.