One of my direct line is 'Hooper'. I have managed to get a long way back but still remains a puzzle......
In addition to being Hoopers they are also Elston(e)s.
Up and down and across several generations they used the names interchangeably. They are in records as "...???? Hooper aka Elston(e)" or vice versa. People were born, married, bore witness, and died seemingly choosing whichever name they fancied for any given event....
I'm fortunate that whilst this was all going on they stayed within a very small radius and so are fairly easily tracked but I have absolutely no idea why and how this arose....;o/