Tapley
A likely English locational surname, probably from a place-name in Devon or Buckinghamshire.
The #9,902 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 94,591 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tapley is generally treated as a habitational surname, meaning someone who came from a place called Tapley or a similar sounding locality. The older writers offered two main possibilities: a small place in Devon, or a form related to Taplow in Buckinghamshire. Harrison also suggested an older English place-name built from a personal name plus Old English "leah" meaning "woodland clearing" or "meadow," though the exact first element is uncertain.
History
The surname is recorded in English sources by the 18th century and appears in both Britain and the United States. Nineteenth-century surname writers disagreed about the precise source place, which makes the derivation somewhat uncertain. The name is best known today through the fictional but memorable character Mark Tapley, which helped keep the surname recognizable.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Charles Dickens made the surname familiar to many readers through Mark Tapley, the cheerful character in Martin Chuzzlewit.
From the historical record
“TAPLAY 1 (Eng.) Bel. to Tap(e)ley (Devon), TAPLEY I iz'(iicmtTapplegh,A..-S>?>.-x..*T(eppan- Jedh = TiEPPA's Lea [the pers. , name Ttzppa, genit. Teeppan-, is app. a nickname (for an innkeeper) f. O.E. teeppa, m., a tap (whence ttsppere, a tavern-keeper] There may have been sporadic confusion”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)