Many surnames were common to many villages - like smith, baker, green - and they have a multi-placed origin. Some names are unique and can be traced back to the origin of one family. As the early Yorkshire Whincup references are so tightly contained rather than being widely scattered, it is likely it originated from one family farming a piece of land on the “Winkop” ( the hollow, near the well, covered in gorse). The Suffolk branch is as yet unconnected but earlier references are concentrated around Bungay. There is a John Wyncop of Bungay (1560) who baptises several children. Another interesting point is that there are some early clergy references to a Robert Whincoppe of Great Melton in Lincolnshire, baptised 1540 with a father named John (who would have been born about 1510), and perhaps the clergy were a little more mobile than the average yeoman. It is possible the origin may be in Suffolk, bearing in mind the proximity of the Low Countries, and a branch may have migrated northwards instead of the other way round.