Kaplan (surname)
Kaplan is a surname that is of ultimately Latin origins. There is also a historically unrelated surname in Turkey.
History
In European languages
Etymologically, the word originates from the Latin term, capellanus or cappellanus, an office given to persons appointed to watch over the sacred cloak (cappa or capella) of St Martin of Tours.[1] Its derivations were then found in many other European languages, including Yiddish, German, English, French, Polish, Norwegian, Croatian, and Hungarian.
The French form derived from the old Norman French word "caplain", which gave the old French and medieval English word "chapelain", both meaning "charity priest", who was a priest who was endowed to sing Mass daily on behalf of the souls of the dead. Hence the name is an occupational name for a clergyman or perhaps a servant of one.[2] From there the word and name spread. Modern variations on Kaplan include Caplan, Chaplain, Chapling, Caplen, Copland, Kapelaan, and Kaplin.
In Turkish
The name is also very popular in Turkey, where the meaning of Kaplan is tiger.[3] When the Turks adopted surnames after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's surname reform, animals as surnames such as lion (Aslan) and tiger (Kaplan) were very common.
Spread
In German the term Kaplan means chaplain or curate.[4] The word is extant in other languages as well, for example in Polish where the term kapłan translates as priest,[5] in Hungarian 'káplán' means a priest of the royal court or that of an aristocrat; in Norwegian where it also has the meaning of priest while retaining the original, elongated form.
Kaplan or Caplan is also a surname common among Ashkenazi Jews, usually indicating descent from the priestly lineage (the kohanim), similar to the etymological origin of the common Hebrew surname Cohen. One of the earliest modern records of Kaplan as a family name is that of Abraham Kaplan in 1698. Distinguished bearers of the name include the Polish rabbi and philanthropist Nachum ben Usiel Kaplan (1811–1879), the Latvian-born Hebrew poet Seeb Wolf Kaplan (1826–1887) and the Russian-born Zionist workers' leader Eliezer Kaplan (1891–1952), the first minister of finance of the State of Israel.[6][7]
Surnames
This is a list of people named Kaplan:
- Abraham Kaplan, philosopher
- Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian artist and painter
- Andreas Kaplan, German professor of marketing
- Arie Kaplan, writer
- Aryeh Kaplan, rabbi
- Avriel Kaplan, bass singer in the a cappella group Pentatonix
- Avrohom Eliyahu Kaplan, Lithuanian rabbi
- Bob Kaplan, Canadian politician
- Bruce Eric Kaplan
- Cary Kaplan, sports marketer
- David Kaplan (radio)
- David E. Kaplan (author)
- David Kaplan (philosopher)
- David L. Kaplan
- Dena Kaplan, actress, DJ and singer
- Dovid Kaplan, senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, popular author and speaker
- Edgar Kaplan (1925–1997), American bridge player
- Edith Kaplan, lead creator of a neuropsychological test battery
- Eliezer Kaplan, Israeli politician
- Fanni Kaplan
- Fanya Kaplan, Russian revolutionary and attempted assassin of Lenin
- Felix Kaplan (1897–1989), American businessman and politician
- Fred Kaplan (biographer)
- Fred Kaplan (journalist)
- Gabe Kaplan
- Gilbert Kaplan (1941–2016), American businessman, journalist and conductor
- Gilbert B. Kaplan, American attorney and government official
- Gisela Kaplan, Australian sociologist and author
- Gregory Kaplan, American historian
- Gül Kaplan, Turkish women's footballer
- Hamit Kaplan, former Turkish wrestler
- Harold Kaplan, Canadian-American psychiatrist
- Howard Kaplan, American singer better known by his stage name of Howard Kaylan
- Hyman Kaplan, fictional character created by Leo Rosten
- Ira Kaplan, musician
- Irving Kaplan, MIT professor
- James Kaplan
- Jeffrey Kaplan, game designer
- Jonathan Kaplan, American film producer
- Jonathan Kaplan, rugby referee
- Jozef Kapláň, Slovak association football player
- Juliette Kaplan (1939–2019), British actress
- Justin Daniel "Joe" Kaplan (1925–2014), American writer and editor
- Kivie Kaplan
- Louis Kaplan ("Kid Kaplan"), Russian-born US world champion featherweight Hall of Fame boxer
- Kyle Kaplan, American actor
- Lance Kaplan, American engineer
- Marty Kaplan
- Mehmet Kaplan, Turkish-born Swedish politician
- Melissa Kaplan, musician/singer with Splashdown and Universal Hall Pass
- Melvin Kaplan, oboist and founder of the Vermont Mozart Festival
- Metin Kaplan
- Michael Kaplan, American biologist
- Michael Kaplan, American costume designer
- Michel Kaplan, French Byzantinist
- Mordecai Kaplan
- Morton Kaplan
- Murat Kaplan
- Nachum Kaplan, preacher and philanthropist
- Nathan Kaplan, American gangster
- Nathan J. Kaplan, American jurist and politician
- Nathan O. Kaplan, American biochemist
- Ori Kaplan
- Perrin Kaplan
- Philip J. Kaplan
- Robert D. Kaplan, American journalist
- Robert S. Kaplan, business school professor
- Ron Kaplan, Israeli Olympic gymnast
- Sam Kaplan, author of The Pedagogical State
- Stanley Kaplan, founder of Kaplan, Inc.
- Steve Kaplan
- Thomas Kaplan (b 1962), American investor and philanthropist
- Valery Kaplan (b. 1943), Soviet speed skater
- Viktor Kaplan, inventor of the Kaplan turbine
- Yisrael Mendel Kaplan
- Yıldız Kaplan, Turkish model and pop singer
See also
References
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. Volume 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 852. .
- "Kaplan". The Internet Surname Database. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
- "Turkish Dictionary for Language Learners and Travelers to Turkey". www.turkishdictionary.net. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "kaplan - Wörterbuch Deutsch-Englisch". WordReference.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "Free Polish-English-Polish Translator and online Polish Dictionary". www.poltran.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora
- What's in a name? Kaplan at JewishGen.org