In all the books I have read and all the people I have spoken with regarding the name, no one knows it’s origins for certain. While some have theorized that the name is a derivative of Knop, one of the earliest records seem to originate from northern Germany, near Kiel. In one book passed to me from my uncle Robert Knoop, a picture of the Knoop Wasserburg or “water castle” located in Altenholz, Germany around the year 1300.
The Knoop name has been roughly translated or associated with “dweller at a hilltop or knoll”.
I would be interested in hearing from those who could shed some light on this and I’m sure that I’m not the only Knoop that has questioned his origins.
../mk