Kaplan
A surname with Jewish roots, often linked to the word for “chaplain” or “clergyman,” especially in Ashkenazi tradition.
The #1,196 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,437 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kaplan is generally understood as a Jewish occupational surname connected with the word for a chaplain or clergyman. The underlying root is usually traced to a Central European form related to German and Middle High German terms for a chaplain, ultimately from Latin capellanus, meaning a chaplain. In Jewish surname usage, it was often adopted by families whose ancestors served in religious or communal roles, or as a hereditary surname based on that association.
History
The surname is best known in Ashkenazi Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe, where it became common as hereditary surnames spread in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is widely found in immigrant communities in the United States and elsewhere, especially among descendants of families from Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and neighboring regions. The Boston name lists in the 1861 Bowditch excerpts show Kaplan and the variant Kaplin already present in the United States by that time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Kaplan is one of several surnames across Europe that ultimately go back to the same Latin word behind the English word “chaplain.”
From the historical record
“Kaan, Kaharl, Kakas, Kaler, Kaley, Kaliher, Kalknan, Kallocfi, Kally, Kalsh, Kammler, Ka- naly, Kanomph, Kannoffsky, Kantorowiez, Kaplan 438 NAMES STILL EXTAiST IN BOSTON. and Kaplin, Karcher, Kassel, Kastner, Kating”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)