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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : occupational name for a naperer, the servant in charge of the linen in use in a great house, Middle English, Old French nap(p)ier. Compare Scottish Napier.
  • Dutch : nickname from an agent derivative of Middle Dutch nappen ‘prick’, ‘sting’, ‘bite’.
  • Dutch : occupational name from an agent derivative of nap ‘cup’, denoting a turner who made cups, dishes, and bowls.
  • Altered spelling of German Knapper.

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