Maples
A surname that likely began as a place-name for someone who lived by maple trees, though some older scholars also linked it to a Channel Islands nickname form.
The #3,367 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,119 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most evidence points to an English locational surname: it was used for someone living “at the maples,” or beside maple trees, and related forms such as Marples and Mapples are treated as variants in older surname collections. The name may refer to a specific place in Yorkshire or more generally to a residence near maple growth. One older authority, however, suggested that in the Channel Islands Maples could reflect a corruption of the French phrase ma belle, “my pretty one,” so the origin is not entirely settled.
History
The name is documented in several variant spellings in English records, especially in northern England and London examples cited by 19th-century surname writers. Later on, Maples became established as an independent surname form, while related spellings such as Mapples and Marples continued to appear. Because the surname is relatively uncommon, much of its early history is reconstructed from place-based naming patterns rather than from one single family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One of the older surname books notes both a tree-based English origin and a completely different Channel Islands explanation, showing how even the same surname could attract competing local interpretations.
From the historical record
“MANWARING. See Mainwaring. MAPLES. An old Noi-man feminine name. Ma belle, " my pretty one," is cor- rupted in the Channel Islands to Maple and Maples. MAPLESON. The same as Mapleston. MAPLESTON. Probably IMappIeton, parishes in cos. Derby and York. MAPLEY. Mapperley, a township in Derbyshire.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom