Chapman (surname)

(By 1600, the occupational name chapman had come to be applied to an itinerant dealer in particular, but it remained in use for both "customer, buyer" and "merchant" in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Modern chiefly British slang chap “man" arose from the use of the abbreviated word to mean a customer, one with whom to bargain.)

The OED includes a citation of an English ordinance or decree that dates from 1553, during the reign of Edward VI: "No Tinker, Peddler, or petit Chapman shall wander about from the Towne but such as shall be licensed by two Justices of Peace."

Both the compound “chapman” and its first element chap- have cognates in all the major Germanic languages: From the prehistoric West Germanic compound *kaup- are derived cognates Old Saxon cop, Old Frisian kap "trade, purchase," Middle Dutch coop, modern Dutch kopen “ to buy,” koop "trade, market, bargain and goedkoop “inexpensive."

The common ancestor is Proto-Germanic *kaupoz-, which was probably an ancient Germanic borrowing of Latin caupo, caupon- "petty tradesman, huckster," of unknown ulterior etymology.

Austin Chapman, Australian politician
Austin Chapman, Australian Protectionist Party politician
Carrie Chapman Catt, woman's suffrage leader
Carrie Chapman Catt, woman's suffrage leader
Donovan Chapman, American country music artist
Donovan Chapman, American country music artist
Eddie Chapman, British spy and double agent, aka Agent Zigzag
Eddie Chapman, British spy and double agent, aka Agent Zigzag
Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, Swedish naval architect
Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, Swedish naval ship architect
Grizz Chapman, television actor
Grizz Chapman, television actor
George Chapman, English dramatist, translator and poet
George Chapman, English dramatist, translator and poet
Henry Chapman Mercer, American archeologist
Johnny Chapman, race car driver
Johnny Chapman, race car driver
John Wilbur Chapman, American Presbyterian evangelist
Leonard F. Chapman, Jr, American Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps
Maria Weston Chapman, American abolitionist
Maria Weston Chapman, American abolitionist
Marshall Chapman, American country rock singer-songwriter
Nicki Chapman, British television presenter
Nicki Chapman, British television presenter
Phillip Kenyon Chapman, Australian astronaut and scientist
Phillip K. Chapman, Australian astronaut and scientist
Roger Chapman, British rock singer
Roger Chapman, British rock singer
Steven Curtis Chapman, American Christian musician
Tracy Chapman, singer songwriter
Tracy Chapman, singer songwriter
Victor Chapman, French American wartime pilot
Victor Chapman, French-American wartime pilot
William W. Chapman, American politician in Iowa and Oregon