Pope History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The ancient Scottish name Pope is carried by the descendents of the Pictish people. It was a name for a confident or haughty person. Pope is a nickname surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Nicknames form a broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, and can refer directly or indirectly to one’s personality, physical attributes, mannerisms, or even their habits of dress. The surname Pope comes from the Old English word pope, which referred to the Bishop of Rome, and the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Although this is also a title of office, as a surname, it was most often applied as a nickname. 1

Early Origins of the Pope family

The surname Pope was first found in Elgin where “a family of Paips or Papes appear to have belonged originally, and some of them were in the legs profession before the Reformation. In Caithness, Sutherland, and Orkney, the surname is still pronounced Paip. In 1363 William Pop, son and heir of William Pop, burgess of Elgin, made a gift to the altar of the Virgin in the church of S. Giles in Elgin, and in 1375 there is mention of Robert Pop of Elgin. Adam Popp and Robertus Popp were jurors on an assize regarding the mill lands of Quarelwode in 1389.” 2