Family name origins & meanings
- English : occupational name for the law-enforcement officer of a parish, from Middle English, Old French conestable, cunestable, from Late Latin comes stabuli ‘officer of the stable’. The title was also borne by various other officials during the Middle Ages, including the chief officer of the household (and army) of a medieval ruler, and this may in some cases be the source of the surname.
- Americanized spelling of Dutch Constapel, an occupational name for the chief gunner aboard a ship or in the garrison of a fort.