The Scottish surname Sharpe, also found in England and Ireland, is a nickname derived from the Middle English word scharp meaning “keen, active or quick.” When found in Ireland it is chiefly found in County Donegal and is an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó Géaráin meaning “descendant of Géarán,”  a byname from a diminutive of géar meaning “sharp.” The first recorded spelling of the family name is Healden Scearpa, dated 1026, in the "Old English Bynames", for the county of Kent. The name is first recorded in the New World in 1609 when Samuel Sharpe is recorded in Bermuda. Today there are approximately 28,000 bearers of the name Sharpe living in the US.