Show ContentsLapish History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Lapish surname was no doubt an occupational name for someone who worked as a "law-page. Probably an apparitor or summoner, a servant of the law." [1]

Early Origins of the Lapish family

The surname Lapish was first found in Yorkshire, where Johannes Lawpage was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rrolls of 1379. [1] Christopher Lawpage was listed in Norfolk, but no date or location was given. [2]

Early History of the Lapish family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lapish research. Another 148 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1379, 1568, 1778, 1787 and 1798 are included under the topic Early Lapish History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lapish Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Lapish family name include Lappage, Lapage, Lappadge, Lapidge, Lawpage, Lapish, Lepage and many more.

Early Notables of the Lapish family

More information is included under the topic Early Lapish Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Lapish migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Lapish surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Lapish Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • William Lapish, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1847 [3]


  1. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  2. Rye, Walter, A History of Norfolk. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1885. Print
  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)


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