Mapp
A surname with two plausible English origins: either from a short form of Mabel, or from a place-name linked to Kent.
The #7,052 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 65,013 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical surname books give two different explanations for Mapp. One line of evidence treats it as a shortened or sharpened form of Mab, itself a pet form of the medieval female name Mabel, with related forms such as Mappin and Mapps. Another source derives it from a lost or hard-to-identify place-name in Kent, represented by spellings like Mapplesden or Maplesden, meaning a locational surname from a named settlement.
History
The Mabel-based explanation is especially common in older English surname studies and is supported by forms such as Mapps, Mapson, and Mappin in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire records. But at least one major dictionary also records a Kentish locational origin, so the surname may not have a single source. In practice, modern bearers of Mapp could descend from either line, depending on family history and region.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers even noted that the modern English form often became Mobbs in some families, showing how fluid these nickname surnames could be.
From the historical record
“tiin, enclosure] MAPP, a sharpened form of Mabb, c[-V- ' . • . '- MAPPIN for Mabbin, a double dim. oi Mabel: v. Mabb. MARA (Celt.) i for O'Meara, q.v. 2 a shortening of Mac Namara, q.v. MARCER = Mepcen, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)