996 Global KNAPPER Family Members

KNAPPER Family History

This most interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a toponymic name deriving from the Olde English element "chaepp", hilltop, with two possible interpretations. Firstly, it may be a locational name from places called Knapp in Devon and Hampshire, the latter recorded as "Chenep" in the Domesday Book of 1086. Secondly, the name may be of topographical origin, given to a dweller on a hilltop. Toponymics are formed by the addition of the suffix "-er", to some topographical term, indicating "residence by", as in this instance, "cnaepp"; they are particularly common in Sussex from the 14th Century, and in the neighbouring counties of Kent, Surrey, Essex and Hampshire.