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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English and German : occupational name for a wine merchant or tavernkeeper, Middle English tapper (an agent derivative of tappen ‘to draw off’), Low German tappe ‘tap’.
  • North German : nickname from Middle Low German tapper ‘capable’, ‘eager’, ‘courageous’.
  • Swedish : soldier’s name from tapper ‘brave’.

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