Napier (surname)


Napier is a surname with an English, Scottish or Polish origin.
The British surname Napier is derived from an occupational name for someone who sold or produced table linen; or for a naperer which was a servant who was responsible for the washing and storage of linen in a medieval household.
The Scottish surname was given by William the Lion to a younger son of the ancient Earls of Lennox after his prowess in battle. “Ye have “nae peer”. In 1625, Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston, the first Lord Napier, presented an affidavit to the College of Heralds, in which he described this origin of the name Napier, as having been bestowed by the king on one Donald Lennox in recognition for acts of bravery. He states:
The British surname is derived from the Middle English, Old French napier, nappier which is a derivative of the Old French nappe meaning "table cloth". The earliest occurrences of the surname is of a Peter Napier in 1148 in the Winton Domesday; Ralph Naper, le Napier in 1167–71; and Reginald le Nappere in 1225.
The surname can also be a shortened form of the Polish surname Napierala.

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