Turpie Name Study
Location: Worldwide
Surnames/tags: Turpie Turpy
[send private message] and Jim Turpy [send private message]
About the Project
The Turpie Name Study project is intended to facilitate collaborative working to research and document information on the surnames TURPIE and TURPY. There have been, and will continue to be, many instances of spelling variations. Where these occur temporarily or randomly, it is my practice to 'normalise' the spelling used in WikiTree; however, such "errors" can become an accepted form for succeeding events and generations, when of course the 'new normal' form should be used. Indeed, that is exactly how my own family name changed from "Turpie" to "Turpy" owing to spelling inconsistencies in 19th century Edinburgh census taking.
So far, the great majority of TURPIE folk that I have researched can be shown to be descended from Scottish roots - and especially in and around the 'Kingdom' of Fife - back to the earliest records for 'ordinary' people in the late 1500s and early 1600s. A number of American records are showing an Irish origin, more typically early 1800s, but these may be mis-spellings of names such as 'Torpy' or 'Tarpy' - names which I have not found in Scotland at all.
The surname 'Turpin' is also very rare in earlier Scottish records, and in a fair number of these cases came from a mis-spelling of the name of a family of known 'TURPIE' origins in St Andrews and east Fife in the later 1700s.
I have found that 'TURPY' is a (relatively) common name in France from early dates, a name especially concentrated in the Département of Creuse, and have concluded that it is unlikely to be related to the Scottish 'TURPIE'. Although it is tempting to think of 18th century Jacobite supporters taking refuge in France, my reading of all the Turpie history so far is that our folk were Presbyterian, not Catholic, and were - if anything - much more likely to be supporters of the Hanoverian line. Unless there is also a clear source for 'TURPIE', I have therefore not included persons in France surnamed 'TURPY' in the One Name Study. However, in older French records the spelling of names seems to be extremely inconsistent, with different spellings of surnames even within a single record. It is therefore often impossible to be certain of the "correct" spelling - if indeed such can be said to exist.
As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related biologically. Individual contributors may wish to research into specific areas of interest, such as geographically (Scotland, England, Australia, Chile, etc), by time period (eg, 18th Century), or by topic (DNA, Occupations, Statistics, etc). These studies may also include a number of family branches which have no immediate link with each other - although such links may eventually emerge. The research work is likely at times to converge with work done by other contributors who are following their own family trees or names - such encounters have always proved to be both enjoyable and rewarding!
How to Join
To see whether you wish to join the Turpie Name Study, start out by browsing any profiles for the surnames TURPIE or TURPY to see if there is any link that fits your interests. If so, feel free to add your name to the Membership list below, and send me an introduction to yourself. {Contact the Name Study Coordinator: Jim Turpy}
Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation with the ONS Member Sticker:
Research Pages
Membership
Related Surnames and Surname Variants
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