Japp, Jaap, jop, Jape, Jappy etc...

[Andrew C.]

I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the surname Jaap and it’s variants (or are they variants?)

The commonly held belief in the Jaap line is it is Dutch in origin however there are many other claims vying for recognition. I read somewhere that japp is a Gaelic word for water or river however the name doesn’t seem to be common in Gaelic speaking areas. I also read that in the North East a jappy is a small fishing vessel and certainly the name Jappy is prevalent in the North East. Jap is also mentioned as being a Scottish variant of Jacob or Job (as is the Dutch Christian name Jaap). The prevelance of Scottish Japps seems to be on the East coast particularly Montrose and Fife. With the historic trading links between Fife and the low countries there could be something in the Dutch connection. A read a post on Ancestry.co.uk from someone saying he had traced the line back to the 13th century and the surname mentioned was Yeap which would tie in with the continental pronunciation. Interestingly other genealogy forums are full of Japps of German decent, and it seems to be fairly common surname in parts of Germany however even in these threads the Netherlands are alluded to.

Personally I am just not sure, I have a feeling Jappy is a different name altogether and so to is probably Jop however Japp, Jaap, Jap and Jape are probably all the same of what origin I just don’t know.

[DavidWW]

As far as Black's "The Surnames of Scotland" is concerned, the surname JAPP, main cognates JAPE and YAPE, goes back in Scotland to the 13th century, but with no specific geographical connection; examples being quoted in Perth, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fordell, Dumbennan and Stewarton.

Minor cognates quoted by Black are YEP, YEAP, JAPE, JAIP, JAP, and JAAP.

Black suggests that JAPPIE and JAPPY are modern diminutives of JAPP, and quotes a Buchan fishing village with 29 of that name.

David

PS

The free surname search on TalkingScot produces the following for JAPP

Census 1841 93
Census 1851 90
Census 1861 111
Census 1871 180
Census 1881 191
Census 1891 249
Census 1901 295
Old Parish Records Births & Christenings 1553 - 1854 232
Old Parish Records Banns & Marriages 1553 - 1854 165
Statutory Register Births 1855 - 1906 356
Statutory Register Marriages 1855 - 1931 286
Statutory Register Deaths 1855 - 1956 479
Wills & Testaments 1513 - 1901 8

JAAP produces

Census 1841 40
Census 1851 83
Census 1861 71
Census 1871 73
Census 1881 97
Census 1891 139
Census 1901 137
Old Parish Records Births & Christenings 1553 - 1854 117
Old Parish Records Banns & Marriages 1553 - 1854 98
Statutory Register Births 1855 - 1906 269
Statutory Register Marriages 1855 - 1931 182
Statutory Register Deaths 1855 - 1956 352
Wills & Testaments 1513 - 1901 18

Beware that this could easily be one of those situations where there are both Scottish and Dutch derivations of the surname, complicated by how the respective original surnames have evolved over the centuries, not least involving the "ear of the hearer" effect.
dww

PPS Given my knowledge of Dutch pronunciation, on reflection, a surname by the Dutch spelling of JAAP would be much more likely to be heard in Scotland as YAP[P] ..........
dww

[emanday]

While working in Amsterdam I did notice that J at the beginning of a word/name was pronounced as Y, as David said. If found within a word it was usually sounded like and "i".

[Chris Paton]

Just to throw a line in about the apparent Gaelic derivation - it's unlikely, as there is neither a 'j' or a 'y' in the Gaelic alphabet! lol

Chris

[Andrew C.]

The problem I had with the Dutch/German origin was the fact they would have pronouced it as yap. Saying that though the continental Johan (yohan) has became our John so why not Japp (yap) becoming Japp. Also as has been pointed out there are some spellings beginning with Y, not knowing exactly how people pronouced words way back there is every possibility the Dutch connection is correct. It is interesting whether the Dutch rumour is a common presumption or it is a fact that has been passed down for generations?

[emanday]

Is this where we got the "Kirk" for church in Scotland? Our association with the Netherlands goes way back, so we could have adopted a bit into our everyday language...

http://www.oudekerk.nl/

Seeing a church called Kerk was one of the first things I noticed about the language.

[Chris Paton]

Not exactly - Kirk is from the Scots language, which like Old English and German comes from the 'Germanic' group of languages. So kirk finds its equivalent in the German kirche, but both derive from an original root language. Similarly, Spanish, Italian and French all derive from the 'Italic' language group, whilst Gaelic and Welsh derive from the 'Celtic' group, etc etc...

Hope that helps!

Chris

[Andrew C.]

I do think Scots has it's similarities to German Kirche (as in Gelsenkirchen) for Kirk, nicht and nacht etc. Dutch is also very similar to German.