APPLE
Apple is a surname of English origin that derives from the Middle English word appel, meaning apple. It has been used traditionally as an occupational name for one who cultivated or sold apples, and it may also appear as a nickname for someone with apple‑like features such as a rosy complexion or a round face.
The name is recorded in several forms—Apple, Appel, Appoell, Epple, Eppel, and other variants. It may have two separate roots: one originating from the pre‑7th century Scandinavian term apaldr, which likewise means apple and denotes a fruit grower; the other possibly stemming from a Welsh patronymic, where Ap (equivalent to Gaelic Mac) means son of, giving a form such as Ap Pella. This Welsh element was historically fused into surnames such as Pritchard, formerly Ap Richard, demonstrating how the name could arise independently from distinct linguistic traditions.
Occupational surnames began to appear from the 12th century, yet they became hereditary only when sons followed their fathers into the same trade. In practice many did not, allowing the same surname to develop in unrelated families. Evidence of the Apple surname survives in early London parish registers: a 1555 christening of Alyce Appoell (daughter of John Appoell) at St Michael Bassishaw and a 1840 wedding of Jemima Epple to John Ashton at St Dunstans in Stepney. These entries confirm the surname’s use in the capital over several centuries.
In the early 13th century the surname recorded as Apple existed throughout England, often associated with individuals who lived near an apple orchard or who worked as growers or merchants of apples. Presently it is very uncommon; fewer than one hundred people in the United Kingdom carry the name, fewer than three hundred in the United States, and just over two hundred in Brazil as of 2014, according to the Forebears database. Variants include Appel, Appell, Appels, Äppel, Aeppli, and the Germanic Apfel, all translatable as apple in their respective languages. The persistence of these variants illustrates the widespread cultural significance of the apple in naming practices across the British Isles and beyond.
Typical given names associated with the Apple surname
Male
- Adam
- Anthony
- Daniel
- David
- Howard
- Ian
- John
- Jonathan
- Joseph
- Keith
- Paul
- Simon
- Terence
- Theodore
Female
- Annie
- Barbara
- Chante
- Dionne
- Emily
- Esme
- Helen
- Lucy
- Naomi
- Samantha
- Val
- Zoe
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Apple in...
Braille
⠁⠏⠏⠇⠑
Morse
.-.--..--..-...
Semaphore
There are approximately 157 people named Apple in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around two in a million people in Britain are named Apple.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
