Show ContentsGappler History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Gappler family name is linked to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. Their name comes from Gabriel or Cebrail, an archangel in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran. 1 2 The name denotes "descendant of Gabriel (God is my strength)." 3 The Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae records William Gabriel of Normandy in 1195. 4

Early Origins of the Gappler family

The surname Gappler was first found in Sussex where the Curia Regis Rolls of 1212 record Gabriel filius Reginaldi. Early rolls often listed this name as a forename as later the Subsidy Rolls of 1296 list Gabriele Spyg, again in Sussex. The same rolls go on to include Roger Gabyrel in the same year. In Suffolk, the Subsidy Rolls there include Nicholas Gabryel in 1327. 5

Again as a forename, we found two entries in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273: Gabriel Attelond, Kent; and Gabel Brenn, Norfolk. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1370 had only one entry: Thomas Gabriell who held lands there at that time. 6

Further north in Scotland, the name was mostly found in Aberdeenshire. "As a forename we have Gabriel Gymmill in Edinburgh, 1599. David Gabriel, a prominent citizen in Aberdeen, died in December, 1939. I have read somewhere that the family of Gabriel of Aberdeen is descended from a Gabriel Grant, but no such person appears in Sir William Fraser's Chiefs of Grant." 7

Early History of the Gappler family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gappler research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1212, 1273, 1455, 1487, 1825 and 1867 are included under the topic Early Gappler History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gappler Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Gappler include Gabriel, Gable, Gabell, Gaball, Gableson and many more.

Early Notables of the Gappler family

Distinguished members of the family include Mary Ann Virginia Gabriel, born at Banstead, Surrey, Feb. 7, 1825, learned the piano from Pixis, Döhler, and Thalberg, and harmony and construction from Molique. Her principal work...
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gappler Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gappler family

Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Gappler were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..



  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  3. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  4. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
  5. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  6. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  7. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)


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