Family name origins & meanings
- German : from the personal name Appel, a pet form of Apprecht (common especially in Thuringia and Franconia), itself a variant of Albrecht.
- German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic) : from Low German Ap(p)el, Middle Dutch appel, or Yiddish epl ‘apple’, hence an occupational name for a grower or seller of the fruit. As a Jewish ornamental name, it is generally ornamental rather than occupational.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : variant spelling of Apel.