Survey of English Place-Names

Etymology

Reap Hill, 1709 WMB, cf. Reproide 1392MinAcct 88; the el. reap appears several times in later p.ns., Reaps Wood i, 200supra , Reap Hirst iii, 37, 129, Reaps ii, 309, Reaps Cross iii, 194infra ; formally it could be OE  rip 'harvest, reaping' or preferably OE  reopa 'a sheaf', used in allusion to arable corn land, but the available material is not early enough to be decisive and most of the places lie in moorland areas or denote woods; the likeliest sense is that of dial. reap , rip 'to gather up weeds under the harrow, to grub up wood, bushes, etc.', or ON  hrapi 'small shrubs', but there are phonological difficulties with the latter.