Show ContentsCaplan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Caplan

What does the name Caplan mean?

The Caplan name was originally an Anglo-Saxon name that was given to a chaplain, the minister of a sanctuary or church. The name is derived from the Latin word capellanus 1

Early Origins of the Caplan family

The surname Caplan was first found in Hampshire where the oldest record of the name was Albert Chapelain, who was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a tenant in chief and the king's chaplain. 1

Early History of the Caplan family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Caplan research. Another 196 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1559, 1591, 1598, 1634, 1659, 1660, 1672, 1675, 1677 and 1696 are included under the topic Early Caplan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Caplan Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Caplan has undergone many spelling variations, including Chaplin, Chaplins, Chapline, Chaplyn, Cheplain, Chaplain, Chaiplin, Caplin, Caplines, Keplaine and many more.

Early Notables of the Caplan family

Notables of the family at this time include Sir Francis Chaplin; Thomas Chaplin (1591-1672), an English draper and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1659 and 1660; and Samuel...
Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Caplan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Caplan Ranking

In the United States, the name Caplan is the 13,837th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2


Caplan migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Caplan were among those contributors:

Caplan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Rubi Caplan, who arrived in Texas in 1850-1906 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Caplan (post 1700) +

  • Frieda Caplan (1924-2020), American entrepreneur, founder of Frieda's Inc. in 1962 which markets and distributes specialty produce
  • Twink Caplan (b. 1947), American actress, comedian and producer
  • Elizabeth Anne "Lizzy" Caplan (b. 1982), American actress, best known for her role as Janis Ian in Mean Girls
  • Kimby Caplan (b. 1974), American filmmaker from Phoenix, Arizona
  • Irwin "Cap" Caplan (1919-2007), American illustrator, painter, designer and cartoonist, best known as the creator of Famous Last Words, in The Saturday Evening Post
  • Bryan Caplan (b. 1971), American economist, a professor of Economics at George Mason University
  • David Caplan (1964-2019), Canadian politician in Ontario, MPP for Don Valley East (1999-2011)
  • Gerald Lewis "Gerry" Caplan PhD (b. 1938), Canadian academic, public policy analyst, commentator and political activist
  • Elinor Caplan PC (b. 1944), Canadian retired politician and businesswoman in Ontario, Member of Parliament for Thornhill (1997-2004)
  • Naomi Caplan Matusow (b. 1938), American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 1988 (alternate), 2000; Member of New York State Assembly, 1993 4


  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  4. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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