Show ContentsChapelle History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The French region of Forez is where Chapelle was first used as a surname. Chapelle was a name for a person who lived near a chapel or church, deriving its origin from the Old French word "chapelle," which means "chapel."

Early Origins of the Chapelle family

The surname Chapelle was first found in Forez, a former province of France, now part of the modern Loire, the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme départements, where this distinguished family has held a family seat since ancient times.

Early History of the Chapelle family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chapelle research. Another 429 words (31 lines of text) covering the years 1280, 1308, 1317, 1321, 1390, 1487, 1560, 1589, 1631, 1639, 1683, 1684, 1690, 1703, 1740, 1745, 1764, 1780, 1789, 1817, 1820 and 1825 are included under the topic Early Chapelle History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Chapelle Spelling Variations

Most surnames have experienced slight spelling changes. A son may not chose to spell his name the same way that his father did. Many were errors, many deliberate. During the early development of the French language, a person usually gave his version, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Prefixes or suffixes varied. They were optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, there a many spelling variations of the name Chapelle, including Lachapelle, Lachapel, Lachapelles, Chapelle, Chapel, Chapelles, Chapels, Chepel, Chepelles and many more.

Early Notables of the Chapelle family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

  • Vincent La Chapelle (c. 1690-1745), a French master cook who is known to have worked for Phillip Dormer Stanhope (4th Earl of Chesterfield), William IV, Prince of Orange, John V of Portugal, and Madam...

Chapelle Ranking

In France, the name Chapelle is the 941st most popular surname with an estimated 5,550 people with that name. 1


United States Chapelle migration to the United States +

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Migration was slow. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The family name Chapelle has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Chapelle were

Chapelle Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Guillaume Chapelle, aged 48, who landed in Louisiana in 1719 2
  • Claude Chapelle, aged 37, who arrived in Louisiana in 1719 2
  • Eberhard Chapelle, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1751 2
  • Catherine Chapelle, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1751 2
  • Jean Pierre Chapelle, aged 30, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1753 2
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Canada Chapelle migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Chapelle Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • Jean Chapelle, who married Geneviève Durette in Montreal in 1748

New Zealand Chapelle migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Chapelle Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. George Chapelle, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Thomas Harrison" arriving in Nelson, South Island, New Zealand on 28th October 1842 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Chapelle (post 1700) +

  • Dickey Chapelle (1918-1965), born Georgette Louise Meyer, American photojournalist known for her work as a war correspondent from World War II through the Vietnam War, the first American female reporter to be killed in action
  • Carol Ann Chapelle (b. 1955), American linguist and Angela B. Pavitt Professor in English at Iowa State University
  • Kip Chapelle, American co-fouder of Rubin & Chapelle, a New York-based fashion company founded in 1997
  • Howard Irving Chapelle (1901-1975), American naval architect, and curator of maritime history at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C
  • Corinne Chapelle (1976-2021), American violinist, born in California
  • Antoine Pierre Joseph Chapelle, Marquis de Jumilhac, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 4


  1. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  2. 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)
  3. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  4. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 12) Antoine Chapelle. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html


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