Anyone good with name meanings and backgrounds?

Question

My last name is Chappell and I don't know anything about it. Never knew my father and now that I'm 29, I'd like to identify with the last name I gave my son. It would be nice to be able to explain the name to him

Answer 1

Just from looking at it, I would say that your ansestor that the Normans rounded up and put in the Doomsday Book was a Chaplin.

Answer 2

I thought I'd tell you that Rootsweb(free site) has more than 53,000 entries for Chappell. When you pull up the website put the name Chappell in the World Connect Block or you might just put your father's full name. If you see something that interest you, probe on the name and you will pull up a screen that will give you the name and email address of the submitter.

Now be careful about taking as fact everything you see in family trees on any website, free or paid. Most of the information is not documented. The information is user submitted. Even when you see the same information over and over by different submitters, that does not necessarily mean it is right. There are people copying without verifying.

Also see the links below from the U. S. National Genealogical Society and the U. K. College of Arms.

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerpsst.cfm

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.htm

There are peddlers selling surname products. House of Names puts a little paragraph in fine print that a person would have to trace their family to know if they are entitled to a particuar coat of arms. Family Crest is a misnomer for coat of arms.

Answer 3

Chappell - Name Meaning and Origin

The boy's and girl's name Chappell \ch(a)-ppe-ll\ is a variant of Chappel.
It is of Old English origin, and its meaning is "one who works at the chapel". Occupational name.
The baby name Chappell sounds like Shepply, Shepley, Shipley and Sheplea. Other similar baby names are Chappelin, Cappel and Capell.

Chappell is a very rare male first name and a very popular surname (source: 1990 U.S. Census). Displayed below is the baby name popularity trend for the boy's name Chappell. Click here to compare Chappell with related baby names.

Answer 4

http://genforum.genealogy.com/chappell/
Since you did not mention if your dad is still living, I am unclear on what info you do have.
If he is not alive, you should be able to order his death certificate, and learn who his parents were. As long as you can start working with historical records, you should be able to trace his ancestry and learn specifics about them.
www.rootsweb.com has a guide to starting research, with more in depth explanations of how to do it. You may not care to learn anything more that where the name came from, hundreds of years ago.. or you might want to learn more. I personally think knowing the individual persons is far more satisfying.

Answer 5

Chappell
English: topographic name for someone who lived near a chapel, from Middle English chapel(l)e ‘chapel’, via Old French, from Late Latin capella, originally a diminutive of capa ‘hood’, ‘cloak’, but later transferred to the sense ‘chapel’, ‘sanctuary’, with reference to the shrine at Tours where the cloak of St. Martin was preserved as a relic.
Americanized spelling of French Chappelle.
Hope this helps.
www.ancestry.com