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Thorpe Family History

Thorpe Name Meaning

English (mainly Yorkshire and Lancashire): from Middle English thorp(e) ‘village hamlet farmstead’ (Old Norse Old English thorp ‘secondary settlement’). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived in such a settlement or habitational for someone from any of several places called Thorp(e) which are most frequent in Yorkshire the Midlands and East Anglia. Compare Throop .

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: Thorn, Hope, Torp, Thorley, Shore, Thor, Thore, Torre, Horne, Thorup

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Hint: Try searching for a relative alive in 1940.

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Where is the Thorpe family from?

You can see how Thorpe families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Thorpe family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Thorpe families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1911 there were 177 Thorpe families living in Ontario. This was about 40% of all the recorded Thorpe's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Thorpe families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Thorpe surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Thorpe ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer and Housekeeper were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Thorpe. 34% of Thorpe men worked as a Farmer and 17% of Thorpe women worked as a Housekeeper. Some less common occupations for Americans named Thorpe were Clerk and Salesman. .

View Census Data for Thorpe | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Farmer
    34%
  • Labourer
    12%
  • Carpenter
    6%
  • Clerk
    5%

Top Female Occupations In 1921

  • Housekeeper
    17%
  • Stenographer
    13%
  • Domestic
    13%
  • Salesman
    7%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Thorpe family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 328,000 census records available for the last name Thorpe. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Thorpe census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Thorpe

Passenger Lists

There are 29,000 immigration records available for the last name Thorpe. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Thorpe immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 30,000 military records available for the last name Thorpe. For the veterans among your Thorpe ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Thorpe military records

You've only scratched the surface of Thorpe family history

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What is the average Thorpe lifespan?

Between 1943 and 2004, in the United States, Thorpe life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1944, and highest in 2002. The average life expectancy for Thorpe in 1943 was 41, and 73 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Thorpe

Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in the Thorpe family tree

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