230,059 CHAPMAN members around the world

CHAPMAN Family History

INTRODUCTION

This ancient, popular, and very important surname is of Olde English, German and Anglo-Saxon pre 5th century origins. Spelt in several ways including Chapman, Chipman, and Chipper (English), Kauf, Kaufman and Kaufler Austro-German), and Koopman (Danish), Coopman and de Copeman (Flemish), this is an occupational name for a merchant or trader. It believed that however spelt, the origination is from the Olde English "ceapmann", itself a compound consisting of the elements "ceap", meaning to barter or bargain and "mann", a person, or in this context, a travelling man. The surname development includes the following early examples taken from authentic charters of the period: Alice Chepman of Derbyshire in the year 1207, Berchtoldus Kofman of Weinzberg, Germany, in the year 1287, and Henry le Chupman of Hampshire in 1327...

Chapman (Variants: Chatman, Capman, Champman)

An English occupational name from Middle English chap(pe)man , chepman ‘merchant, trader’ (Old English c?apmann , c?pemann ).

In Jewish, adopted probably for a like-sounding or like-meaning name in another European language, for example Kaufman.

Early bearers of the surname include: Willelmus Chapman, 1377 in Poll Tax (Kennington, Kent); Johannes Chapman, 1377 in Poll Tax (Normanby, Lincs); Sibila Chapman, 1377 in Poll Tax (Uppingham, Rutland); Waltero le Chapeman, 1381 in Poll Tax (Oxford, Oxon); Willelmus Chapman, 1381 in Poll Tax (Sturmer, Essex); Anne Chapman, 1538 in IGI (Broughton by Brigg, Lincs); Johanis. Chapman, 1538 in IGI (Kelshall, Herts); Mgy Chapman, 1538 in IGI (Fairsted, Essex); Ricardus Chapman, 1539 in IGI (Calne, Wilts); Henry Chapman, 1540 in IGI (Rye, Sussex).

William Chapman, an English convict, was transported aboard the "Albion" on 17 May 1823, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia.

In 1891, the surname was recorded in England and Wales with 44,481 occurrences and a further 636 in Scotland.

In 1881, it was a widespread surname and was particularly frequent in the south-eastern county of Kent with 3,015 occurrences. Further north, it was also reported as top surname in the Bristol district of Gloucestershire.

In 1881, it was also reported that the most common Chapman occupation in the UK was Agricultural Labourer. Agricultural Labourer, Farmer and Labourer were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Chapman. A less common occupation for the Chapman family was Coal Miner.

Sydney Chapman FRS was a British mathematician and geophysicist. He has inspired many researchers today with his work on the Earth’s ozone layer, as well as solar-terrestrial physics and the kinetic theory of gases. In mathematics, the equation Chapman-Kolmogorov is derived from the both Sydney Chapman and Russian mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov, specifically in the theory of Markovian stochastic procceses in probability theory.

Another noted, Tracy Chapman (b.1964), the American singer-songwriter, best known for her song ‘Fast Car’.

1881, 1891 Census

1881 Census in Kent

1881 Cencus in Gloucestershire

Dictionary of American Family Homes, P Hanks OUP 2003

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, H.B. Guppy, London 1890

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, P.Hanks, Coats, McClure OUP 2016

1860 Lower, Mark A Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom, London: J.R Smith. Public Domain

1857 Arthur, William An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain

https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/albion/1823

J.M.P