Napier (surname)

Napier /ˈneɪpɪər/ is a surname with an English, Scottish, French or Polish origin.

The British surname Napier is derived from an occupational name for someone who sold or produced table linen; or for a naperer which was a servant who was responsible for the washing and storage of linen in a medieval household.

By tradition, the Scottish surname was given by William the Lion, King of Scots (reigned 1165-1214) to a younger son of the ancient Earls of Lennox after his prowess in battle, when the king is alleged to have said: “Ye have “nae peer” [i.e. you have no peer, meaning no equal]. This is likely to be an apocryphal story made up to give the surname a more elevated origin than simply deriving from one who provided linen, which made it merely comparable to the surname Draper. In 1625, Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston, the first Lord Napier, presented an affidavit to the College of Heralds, in which he described this origin of the name Napier, as having been bestowed by the king (probably Alexander II) on one Donald Lennox in recognition for acts of bravery. He states:

This battle went hard with the Scots, for the enemy, pressing furiously upon them, forced them to lose ground, until at last they fell to flat running away, which being perceived by Donald, he pulled his father's standard from the bearer thereof, and valiantly encountering the foe, being well followed by the Earl of Lenox's men, he repulsed the enemy, and changed the fortune of the day, whereby a great victory was got. After the battle as the manor is everyone advancing and setting forth his own acts the King said unto them "Ye have all done well but there is one amongst you who hath Na peer," and calling Donald into his presence he commanded him in regard of his worthy service and in augmentation of his honour to change his name from Lenox to Napier, and gave him the lands of Gosford and lands in Fife and made him his own servant, which discourse is confirmed by sundry of my old evidencies and testimonies wherein we are called Lenox alias Napier.[1]

The British surname is derived from the Middle English, Old French napier, nappier which is a derivative of the Old French nappe meaning "table cloth".[2] The earliest occurrences of the surname is of a Peter Napier in 1148 in the Winton Domesday; Ralph (le) Naper, le Napier in 1167–71; and Reginald le Nappere in 1225.[3]

The surname can also be a shortened form of the Polish surname Napierala.[2]