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.