Hopkins surname meaning

Hopkins means “son of Hopkin.” Hopkin was a medieval pet form of Hob or Hobbe, which in turn was commonly used for Robert, so the surname preserves a chain of personal names rather than an occupation or landscape word. The final -s is the familiar possessive or patronymic ending found in many English and Welsh surnames. Hopkin, Hopkyn, Hobkins, and related spellings may represent the same naming pattern, though spelling alone cannot join families. Parent’s name is the high-confidence catalog type: Hopkins identifies descent from a man known by Hopkin, while the older Germanic meaning of Robert belongs one step further back.