The first reference found so far for the surname POPLAR in England is the baptism of Philip POPELER at St Clement Danes Church, Westminster, London, in 1560.  Up to now, baptisms and marriages prior to 1600 have only been found in Suffolk, Essex, London, Kent and Sussex.

The POPLAR families from London and the south-east were probably the original POPLAR's. There may be some connection with the parish of Poplar, which was once in Middlesex, but is now part of the East End of London.  Bethnal Green, Stepney, Shoreditch and Whitechapel were all area's associated with this family name.  The POPLAR surname continues in this area, and to my knowledge these "Eastenders" stayed in the area, with only one exception found so far; one family who moved to Yorkshire.

Obviously, we cannot overlook the possibility that this surname originated from more than one source.  When surnames were coming into general use in the late 13th and early 14th century, someone could have been known as John Poplar (someone who moved from the parish of Poplar) but perhaps also John Poplar (someone who lives by the Poplar trees).

During the 18th century, a second centre of population arose in the county of Nottinghamshire.  This county had the second largest number of baptism and marriage entries after Middlesex.  However, further research suggests that this POPLUR family (later spelled POPLER and POPLAR) sprang into life as the result of a spelling error.  I think it possible that a William POPPLE moved from Lincolnshire to Nottinghamshire, and the clergy spelled his name as POPLUR instead.  The family kept this spelling, and went on to populate the Midlands, Lancashire and West Yorkshire.  This group has also used the surname POPLIN, which would not normally be considered a variant of POPLAR.

The Scottish POPLAR family of the Shetland Isles started using the POPLAR spelling in the second half of the 19th Century. Prior to that they were using the spelling POPLA, PAPLA, POPLAY and PAPLAY, and may have originated from the Isle of Paplay, so their name came about independently.

POPLAR families have also been recorded in Wiltshire, which has its own common PEPLAR name.  These POPLAR families were possibly just a spelling mistake.  POPLAR entries have also been found in the counties of Lincolnshire, Dorset and Somerset, where the POPPLE name is common.  Many of the others found in England are also probably errors where their own names have been spelled incorrectly as POPLAR.