Cooper History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Cooper is an Anglo-Saxon name. The name was originally given to a cooper, a person who made and repaired barrels, casks, and buckets. It was a trade highly valued in the Middle Ages, as the construction or waterproof containers was no easy task with the tools of the time.

Early Origins of the Cooper family

The surname Cooper was first found in Sussex but the name is “distributed over the greater part of England, but rare or absent in the northern and south – western counties. It seems to have three principal centres, one in the northern midlands, including Cheshire, another in Sussex and Hants, and a third in Suffolk. The counties especially notable for Coopers are Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hants, Leicestershire and Rutland, Notts, Suffolk, Sussex, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire.” 1

The Pipe Rolls include some of the earliest records of the family: Robert (le) Cupere for Surrey (1176-7); ? le Cupers, Norfolk in 1181-2. 2