Cap Family History

Ukrainian, Jewish (from Ukraine), Polish, Serbian, and Hungarian (Cáp): from Ukrainian tsap ‘billy goat’, Polish cap, and so probably a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way or perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a goat herd. Czech (Cáp): nickname for a tall or long-legged man, from cáp ‘stork’. Southern French: from Occitan cap ‘head’ (Latin caput); probably a nickname for a person with something distinctive about his head. The word was often used in the metaphorical sense ‘chief’, ‘principal’, and the surname may also have denoted a leader or a village elder. In some cases it may also be a topographic name from the same word used in the sense of a promontory or headland. Americanized spelling of German Kapp. English: variant spelling of Capp.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press