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Last name origins & meanings:

  1. German: from the personal name Appel, a pet form of Apprecht (common especially in Thuringia and Franconia), itself a variant of Albrecht.
  2. German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Low German Ap(p)el, Middle Dutch appel, or Yiddish epl ‘apple’, hence an occupational name for a grower or seller of the fruit. As a Jewish ornamental name, it is generally ornamental rather than occupational.
  3. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Apel.