Family name origins & meanings
- Possibly an Americanized spelling of Swiss and South German Räppli or Räpple, diminutives of Rapp.
- Possibly a respelling of French Rappelet, which is most probably a derivative of Old French rapel ‘occupation’, ‘profession’.
- This was the name of one of the first Walloon families to settle in New Netherland in the 17th century.