The kaplan Surname
kaplan Name Meaning and History
- Jewish (Ashkenazic): surname used as a translation of Cohen, from German Kaplan or Polish kaplan ‘chaplain’, ‘curate’.
- German, Swedish, Czech, and Slovenian; Slovak (Kaplán); Polish (Kaplan); Hungarian (Káplán): status name for a deacon, chaplain, or curate (ultimately from Late Latin capellanus (see Chaplin 1), or a nickname for someone resembling a clergyman).
- Turkish: from kablan ‘tiger’, hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble a tiger, typically in having indomitable courage or spirit. In the form Kaplanis, this is also found as a Greek surname, with various patronymic and other derivatives (Kaplanidis, Kaplanoglou, Kaplanellis, etc.)
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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