The Crippen - Crippin Connection - Suggested Origins of the names

The CRIPPEN - CRIPPIN Connection - Contents

Name Origin – P H Reaney & R M Wilson

The Dictionary of British Surnames by P.H. Reaney and R.M. Wilson gives two likely origins of the names:

CRISPIN. The patron saint of shoemakers, martyred at Soissons c285 AD.

CRISPINUS. The latin for the nickname ‘curly’ haired.

The full entry against the names Crispin, Chrispin, Crepin, Crippen and Crippin is:

Stanmer Crispini filius circa 1095 Bury (Suffolk);
Crespinus 1207 Curia Regis Rolls (in progress; Pipe Roll Soc. 14, 24) (Lincolnshire);
Willelmus filius Crispian 1272 Rotuli Hundredorum, 2 vols., 1812-18 (Oxfordshire);
Creppinus le Seller 1319 Subsidy Rolls London, Crispin la Seeler 1336 Letter Books of the City of London, 11 vols., 1899-1912 E;
Milo crispinus 1086 Domesday Book;
Turstin' Crispin 1166 Pipe Rolls (Rec. Comm. 3 vols., 1833-44; Pipe Roll Soc. (in progress); Great Roll of the Pipe 26 Hy III, ed. H.L. Cannon, 1918) (Yorkshire);
Ralph Crespin 1169 Pipe Rolls (Rec. Comm. 3 vols., 1833-44; Pipe Roll Soc. (in progress); Great Roll of the Pipe 26 Hy III, ed. H.L. Cannon, 1918) (Devonshire);
Ralph Crispun 1208 Curia Regis Rolls (in progress; Pipe Roll Soc. 14, 24) (Yorkshire);
Elias Crepun 1208 Pipe Rolls (Rec. Comm. 3 vols., 1833-44; Pipe Roll Soc. (in progress); Great Roll of the Pipe 26 Hy III, ed. H.L. Cannon, 1918) (Wiltshire);
Roger le Crespin 1268 Assize Rolls Somerset;
Edmund, Walter Crepyn 1312, 1317 Feet of Fines Cambridgeshire.
Crispinus, a Roman cognomen from the Latin crispus 'curly', was the name of the patron saint of the shoemakers who was martyred at Soissons circa 285 along with Crispianus, in French, Saints. Crepin and Crepinien. The former survives as Crepin or Crippin which may also be nicknames from Old French crespin, a derivative of crespe 'curly'. Cf. Ralph de Alegate called Crepyn, Ralph Crepyn called de Alegate 1306 Letter Books of the City of London, 11 vols., 1899-1912 B.
Crispun and Crepun are hypocoristics of Crispin, crepin and cannot be associated with Old French crespon, French crepon 'crape', a material with a crisped or minutely wrinkled surface which is unknown before the 16^th Century.
The surnames may derive from the saint or from a nickname 'curly-haired'. According to Lanfranc (died 1089) Gilbert Crispin was the first man to receive this nickname and two of his sons adopted it as their surname. His grandson Gilbert Crispin was Abbot of Westminster.

Blazon Of Arms For Crispin

Barry of eight argent and gules, a bordure engrailed sable.
Crest: A seven headed hydra vert.
Motto: Dum clarum rectum teneum. - While I hold to glory let me hold to right.

Completely revised December 2001, this page was last updated Tuesday, January 01, 2002.

Please send comments, enquiries, etc. to john@crippen.org.uk