An Irish, Scottish and English surname, Sharpe comes from the Gaelic term ‘gear’ and the Middle English term ‘scharp’ which both refer to something being pointed, sharp, intense, energetic or swift. The spelling variations for Sharpe including Scharp, Schearpe, Sharp and Scharpe. The German spelling for Sharpe would be Scharf. All across England and most of Wales the Sharpe surname is located. In Yorkshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Kent and the city of London are the Sharpe populations the highest. In Scotland the Sharpe family name is primarily found in Dumfries-shire, Lanarkshire, Angus, Ayrshire, and Fife. Within the United States the original Sharpe families settled in New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Illinois. Famous: Luis Sharpe (professional football player), Richard Sharpe (U. K. historian), Matthew Sharpe (novelist), Bud Sharpe (professional baseball player), William Forsyth Sharpe (inventor of the Sharpe ratio relating to risk-adjusting investment analysis), Albert Sharpe (theater and film actor from Ireland), Edmund Sharpe (19th century English engineer for churches and railways), Ricky Sharpe (professional football player), Avery Sharpe (musician - electric bass), Tom Sharpe (English novelist) and Phil Sharpe (professional English cricket player).