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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Dutch and North German : from kal(e)fat ‘oakum’, ‘tow’, ‘calk’ (loose fibers of rope used to caulk a ship’s seams and make her watertight), hence a metonymic occupational name for a calker, someone who specialized in making ships watertight. The word is ultimately from Arabic qalafa; it is also found in 17th-century English in various spellings, mainly calf(r)et.

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