APPLEBY
Appleby is an English surname that is largely of Norse origin, reflected in the elements *apall*, meaning apple, and *byr* or *býr*, meaning farm or settlement. The name is understood to have originally described a settlement situated near an apple orchard or at an orchard farm, and it serves as a locational identifier for those who moved away from the place that bore the same name.
The earliest documented appearance of the surname in England dates from the Domesday Book of 1086, where the settlement is recorded as “Aplebi”. Subsequent records in the Pipe Rolls of 1163 refer to the place as “Appelbi”. These documents confirm that the name had become established by the late twelfth century and had already acquired the form that recognises it as a hereditary surname by the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Appleby is associated with several villages in the British Isles, notably those in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Westmorland. Notable bearers of the name in medieval England include the clerics John de Appleby, Vicar of Tilney in Norfolk in 1372, and Thomas de Appleby, Bishop of Carlisle in 1377. The prefixes “de”, “d’” or “de” appear in early manuscripts, indicating a link to the place name and a Norman influence in surname formation.
In the early modern period, members of the Appleby family began to appear abroad with the colonisation of the New World. On 28 May 1635, William Appleby, aged 32, embarked from London on the vessel “Speedwell” to Virginia; he was among the earliest recorded bearers of the surname to settle in North America. The name’s spread to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand was later facilitated by wider migration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The common coat of arms borne by the Appleby family consists of a blue field charged with six gold martlets and a crest of a golden apple surmounted by green leaves and a stalk. The heraldic symbols underscore the agricultural and pastoral heritage that lies behind the family's origin and early identity.
In contemporary times the surname Appleby remains most frequently found in the United Kingdom, especially in regions surrounding the historic villages that originally bore the name. It continues to be a clear example of a locational surname derived from an Old Norse linguistic heritage preserved within the English onomastic landscape.
Typical given names associated with the Appleby surname
Male
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Claire
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Joanne
- Julie
- Karen
- Margaret
- Mary
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Sharon
- Susan
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 Appleby in...
Braille
⠁⠏⠏⠇⠑⠃⠽
Morse
.-.--..--..-...-...-.--
Semaphore
Did you know?
According to a survey carried out by Democracy Club, politicians and candidates with the surname Appleby are most likely to say that their favourite biscuit is a Shortbread.
There are approximately 10,620 people named Appleby in the UK. That makes it the 869th most common surname in Britain. Around 163 in a million people in Britain are named Appleby.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Appleby
- Robert John Appleby - Actor and model
- Kim Appleby - Musician and actor
- Melanie Appleby - Singer (1966 to 1990)
- Lucy Appleby - Cheesemaker (1920 to 2008)
- Charlie Appleby - Racehorse trainer
- Richard Appleby - Football player
- Jo Appleby - Singer
- Matty Appleby - Football player
- Ben Appleby - Football player (1876 to 1961)
- Robert Appleby - Paleontologist (1922 to 2004)
- Jim Appleby - Football player (1934 to 2014)
- Fred Appleby - Distance runner (1879 to 1956)
- Paul Appleby - Boxer
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.