Hope was born in 1681 at Rankeillor House near Monimail in Fife. He was the son of Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Aytoun of Aytoun and Sir Archibald Hope, Lord Rankeillor. His grandfather was Sir John Hope, Lord Craighall, 2nd Baronet Hope of Craighall. The Hope baronetcy of Craighall in the county of Fife was created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia on 19 February 1628 for Thomas Hope, a Scottish lawyer, and advisor to Charles I.
